Gardening rookie - Want to plant flowers this spring and don't know where to start?

Hi! We bought our house last summer but being really pregnant I didn't plant any flowers (although some impatients did pop up).

Anyway, I'd really love to have some flowers this year. I'd like to have more than one type of flower (vs just having all impatients or begonias) but really don't know the 1st thing about gardening.

Where do I start? Where do you all go for ideas/inspiration and learn about flower types, etc.

TIA!

ETA: Oh, being that I live on Tulip Avenue, I'd like to have tulips too. Don't these have to be planted way in advance though and then what happens since they only last a couple of weeks?

Message edited 2/25/2010 11:23:17 AM.

Re: Gardening rookie - Want to plant flowers this spring and don't know where to start?

I knew nothing about gardening and just had fun with it. I went to the garden center and found plants I thought looked nice. I would then read the little tags with them and tried to layout my garden in my head a bit. The first year I did mainly annuals with a few perennials, so I didn't have to commit to anything. The next year I was a bit more confident and planted a few more perennials. This year I planted everything I plan to add to our garden from seed in my house and plan to transplant when it gets warm. I still am not sure how much I really know about gardening but all my neighbors complement our garden. I also really enjoy doing it.

So my long winded suggestion is just have some fun with it. Remember that Annuals have to be replanted yearly but perennials typically come back year after year.

Re: Gardening rookie - Want to plant flowers this spring and don't know where to start?

Trial and error is the best way to learn.
Best advice is to get your soil in good condition by digging it up and turning it, and adding some good fresh topsoil and compost or humus to it to lighten it up.
Use a good liquid feed fertilizer like Miracle Gro that attaches to your hose. Or you can do the shake and feed pellets that you mix into the soil. I prefer the liquid feed method.

Next step is to map out your garden as far as light. Is is full sun, part sun or all shade. That will give you an idea of what to plant. Annuals are plants that live a year and die, perennials will come back every year.
Tulips have to be planted in the fall, for blooming in spring. Petunias are my favorites for pots, snapdragons in the garden beds.

I don't like Home Depot for plants, they are not kept in good condition. I like the smaller garden centers, as well as Hicks and Garden World. Perennials can be expensive, but a good investment in the long run. Look at what you like, read the tags that come with the plants. That will tell you how much light, and what size the mature plant will be, the time of year for blooming. Check out some of the online catalogues for information about plants, colors, heights etc :
Burpee Seeds
Michigan Bulb Company

I love gardening. It is a grownup's excuse to play in the dirt.
Happy digging !