I have taken on the challenge of landscaping this year, and while I am having landscaper do the large trees and big shrubs, I will plant some myself, and select others and have the gardner plant them.
The issue is that I have no green thumb, not even a green thumbnail.
So what are good colourful plants for chicago climate?
I am looking for plants that aoffer more visual interest than just green. like dogwood which has red stems and during winter as the leaves fall the stems become so prominent. or burning bush that turns red.
so tel me some of your favs, maybe I will find inspiration, pics and descriptions would be appreciated
well dont know much too much, i can just put in my favorites.. yeah dogwood's pretty pretty. my familys very fond of the crabapple.. (i think that's what it's called) . we live in a town house, so there's plenty of those pink trees in the area.
you could also check on the maple which has orange-y/red-y leaves in summer. unfortunately dont know the right names for any of these..
id suggest you to contact a landscape design firm. you could ask for estimates, and ideas and then walk-off and do the job urself!
or you could also contact the closest rona/home depot..
im assuming chicago's weather is similar to sauga's weather! also, do u/ ur family has any interest in growing herbs??
we hav an herb garden in our backyard... works in the summer ofcourse, but get a little of everything.. mint/ grape tomatoes/ cucumbers/ strawberries! my experience with all these has been great! comes out tasting better from your own backyard :)
look ppl calling 'me' a perv but then winking at a na mehram man.
tobah tobah astaghfaar.
well dont know much too much, i can just put in my favorites.. yeah dogwood's pretty pretty. my familys very fond of the crabapple.. (i think that's what it's called) . we live in a town house, so there's plenty of those pink trees in the area.
you could also check on the maple which has orange-y/red-y leaves in summer. unfortunately dont know the right names for any of these..
id suggest you to contact a landscape design firm. you could ask for estimates, and ideas and then walk-off and do the job urself!
or you could also contact the closest rona/home depot..
I am doing that too :)
im assuming chicago's weather is similar to sauga's weather! also, do u/ ur family has any interest in growing herbs??
we hav an herb garden in our backyard... works in the summer ofcourse, but get a little of everything.. mint/ grape tomatoes/ cucumbers/ strawberries! my experience with all these has been great! comes out tasting better from your own backyard :)
khatoon, when did cucumbers and tomaotos become herbs? yeah probably will grow some of those too, but wantto start with some ornamental stuff.
look ppl calling 'me' a perv but then winking at a na mehram man.
tobah tobah astaghfaar.
awwwww.. well u were givin out pervy vibes on the other shareef thread AND the winky ws too neutralize the (potentially) harmful (read harmless) pun intended on your person. and heyhey...
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I am doing that too :)
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goodstuff! feel free to post the suggestions you receive.. the rest of us can benefit from it and giv it a shot!
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khatoon, when did cucumbers and tomaotos become herbs? yeah probably will grow some of those too, but wantto start with some ornamental stuff.
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well i thot it totally redundant to individually put down the entire list of the herbs growin in our backyard, AND cucumber/tomatoes n the works are planted rite there w/ the herbs anywys!
Japanese Red Maple! It also has a “dwarf” version. Its a gorgeous tree, starts out green with red and gets redder as summer goes on. http://treegrowersdiary.com/japaneseredmaple.html
Weeping cherry! In the spring, a waterfall of pink or white flowers, later a waterfall of green. These usually stay pretty small. http://search.ebay.com/weeping-cherry-tree_W0QQfclZ4QQfnuZ1QQfsopZ1
I’d stay away from rose-of-sharon, they are beautiful but the flowers are numerous and they get all slimy when they fall off, make a pretty big mess.
Lilac bushes are nice - the get a big boring after the flowers are done though. But I’ve heard that there are some species now that bloom all summer.
Apple and Pear trees! They start out with bright green leaves then come the beautiful little flowers and then the fruit as soon as the flowers fall off. We have one of each and they’re a constant joy to see out the window all summer. Watch out for squirrels! They LOVE the fruit and provide us endless amusement with their gymnastics!
Azaleas are lovely bushy plants. I’ve been wanting to get a bunch of these myself to plant along the side of our house. They come in so many colors! I was thinking of alternating red and white like a candy-cane effect.
Morning glory! Stunningly beautiful flowers all spring/summer! Its a vine plant so you need the right place for it.
Roses are lovely too but most varieties need much care. I lost 3 lovely rose bushes after I had my boyz
Hibiscus plants are lovely too, and come in many varieties and colors…my favorite has flowers the size of a dinner plate! Not sure how it would do in Chicago, you’d need to ask at the nursery.
Sunflowers are so much fun for the kids! And easy to grow, my son started 3 from seeds and we just planted them last week.
I’m sure I’ll think of more! I love and miss gardening! Cant wait till Sept when all 3 boyz will be in skool - I’m so looking forward to getting my hands back in the dirt!
oh how could I forget these 2 - Rhododendrons and peonies!
Rhododendrons come in so many varieties, from big tree-type shrubs to small plants, many colors and different types of flowers. I have a "lacy" rhododendron, its beautiful! I get the big purple/pink snowball flowers typical of the plant, but each snowball is surrounded by a lacy type flower ring. Depending on the acidity of the soil, the flower colors can change - you can make the color darker or lighter depending on the acid level in the soil.
Peonies are big snowball type flowers too and will come back year after year with prolific blooms that you can nicely cut and put in a vase.
^ I am not found of azalea…they only last a very short time
love the japenese red maple!!
any maple tree is good…makes a great shade tree and has a beautiful canopy.
and my all time fav tree is the weeping willow. works well in areas where water collects. It soaks the water right up!
dalilas are nice…they come in an assortment of beautiful colors. I bought 2 stone outdoor vases and planted them in there…they grow nice and tall then they kinda fall over the vase (cant explain hope u understand). I places them on my front porch.
we also planted a row of evergreens (fast growers…cant remember the name)…makes a great privacy screen. We bought them @ 6 ft tall…they should be about 10-15 ft tall in 2-3 yrs…inshAllah. I love evergreens…looks delightful all year round.
Something I found out while posting photos....those morning glories have quite a surprising herbal usage lol! Never heard of that before! When eaten, the seeds apparently have an LSD like effect!!!! Gracious! Note tho, most plants and seeds are pre-treated or so it says in the webpage.
Another interesting green thumb thang that many dont know is that the leaves of tomato plants are highly toxic to humans as are the leaves of rhododendron.
Not to worry overmuch about messy dogwoods Mr F...same with azaleas and fruit trees. we have all of these and usually the flowers are completely dried up when they fall off so if you have a leaf-blower or metal rake, the mess is really easy to take care of. As opposed to Magnolia and rose of sharons - those flowers fall off when they're big, fat and full of water - they turn into a slimy gooey mess on your lawn - yuck! Sounds like you have a nice plan!
we moved in our place in 2003 and did zero landscaping, we had been too occupied dealing with other stuff in life, we did plant a handful of plants but then as we dealt with our own demons the plants died.
so now finally we are ding landscaping bit by bit.
I just am not a big fan of boring trees, it has to have vidual interest in all seaans and the ones yu recommended are the ones that make the most sense.
I didn't cover my rose bushes and plants in the last two winters and they came back with no problem. But I am in dallas and things might be different in Chicago.
