Interested in starting

[PeachySteph]

Hello.

I'm sure it's too late to do anything now, but I'd like to prepare for next year.

I have been a lover of hummingbirds and butterflies for some time now. I have always wanted to have a flower garden available to them, but just never got to it. I would like to have it all in containers, boxes, etc. Around here (Hall County, GA) all we have is hard red clay in the ground, I just think that keeping the plants in containers will make it much easier on me.

Any advice or tips are greatly appreciated.

I have been doing some research. Trying to find perennials that bloom at different times so there's at least one plant blooming through spring/summer/fall. This takes a lot of preparation and planning! Makes it even more difficult to do it on a tight budget. But I still want to try.

I'm unsure about starting from seeds or just buying full plants. Which would be the least costly approach?

BTW I believe I'm in zone 7a or 7b.

my deck out back (very large) faces SE. It is elevated off of the ground. it'd say it's 50/50 sun & shade there's large trees out back that provide shade while still letting some sun through, they shade about 50% of the deck

my front faces NW. it's a nice place for pots as well, it's up off the ground and covered so it cannot get over-watered by large downpours. however, there is a lot of sun and no shade (unless I create some)

[PeachySteph]

no advice?

[mxmom99]

i dont know that perennials grown in pots would come back, id be afraid theyd freeze if left out over the winter and if you bring them in, they may not get the cold they need to go dormant for the winter. for your 1st attempt, you may want to stick to a good hummingbird mix of seed (there will be things blooming at diff times) and just pick an area in your yard to scatter that. i know clay is hard to work, but if you fence off a small section of yard and just sprinkle the seed directly into the grass (keeping it watered) you should have a nice lil flower garden in no time. you could then always add more permanent plants to that.

[heartse]

keep in mind that different types of butterflies are only attached to specific flowers.

[spadesbouncer]

I know this is kinda late but i have lots of hot pink 4:o clocks . I have some in back yard under cedar trees and they do good and I have some in front yard -full sun- and they do good and then i have them in pots on the porch and they come back every year too....[ see what i mean] They are still blooming now [in tx] and butterflys love them. You start them from seeds but they make big tubers under ground and come back every year. only problem is when they seed [ they seed a lot] so then you have lots of plants. let me know if you would be interested.