Hello Denny,

I am looking to do some summer planting in the back of our house.  It gets shade around 2 p.m., but my dad has recommended that I not plant any perennials this time of year due to it being mid summer and hot.  Tthe area is dug out and ready for me to get started.  Any recommendations of good hardy flowers to plant this time of year that won't die on me?

Thank you,

Tiffany
 

Tiffany,

Yours is an excellent question for this time of the year. You can plant anything at this time of the year. To have a beautiful garden, you need to plant what you want and what will look good in upcoming years. You shouldn't be limited to a limited group of plants. The only difference planting now versus other times of the year, like spring and fall, is that you have to be more conscientious about maintaining the plants. More specifically, you have to be careful about how you water. Different plants have different water requirements. You want to be careful not to under water but more importantly not to over-water. Over-watering is actually the most common and worse problem.

Go ahead and plant. Before you do, go to a good, year round garden center to make sure you get help choosing your plants. Also, make sure you get very specific instructions on maintaining the plants. You'll only get this type of information at a good garden center. Check out the garden center's listed as a "Denny's Dealer" www.dennysguide.com/dennysdealers/.