QuestionOkay, let me start from the beginning. We are in north georgia. We are renters. We have filled in a little pond and are trying to make a "flower mound" of some sort. We filled most of the pond with large rocks and bricks. Then, we put aprox. 320 lb.of topsoil down. I scattered some johnny jump up seeds over the mound. Tjis was about 2 weeks later. Have I done something wrong (yes) and if so, what type of seed/plant can handle this sort of "gardening"?
AnswerNo Thumb,
You haven't done anything wrong, but you should know that starting most plants from seed isn't instant coffee...and Johnny jump-up's (a viola) are a bit slow to germinate. You could keep the area moist while they are germinating, but the problem with this is that every weed seed in your topsoil is going to germinate also, and you won't know at first which is a Johnny Jump-up and which is The Weed That Eats Small Ponds For Breakfast.
In my opinion, you should forget that you scattered the JJU seeds and plant some already started annuals. Nothing beats annuals for "flower power." If the JJU's germinate and grow, well then you'll enjoy them and they'll probably self-seed around in that charming way that they have. But don't count on them.
You don't mention if this area is in full sun or shade, and this will influence your choice of plants. For full sun, creeping Verbena's and Wave petunias grow quickly and give a lot of color. (Make sure the petunias are Wave - others are not the same.) For shade, try coleus, and New Guniea Impatiens. Also good are the purple or lime-green sweet potato vines - these give a ton of color in sun or shade, and they are easy to grow. Another good plant for part shade to full shade are the off-shoots from variegated Spiderplant - usually sold as a hanging basket houseplant, but you can take the hanging small plants off and plant them in the soil outside - they look like grasses and add great color and texture...and best of all, they all make more babies all the time.
I hope this helps!
C.L. Fornari
www.gardenlady.com
