Choosing the best plants for your climate

Choosing the right garden seeds is one of the most important steps, and one of the first steps, when it comes to successful gardening. More and more people every day are discovering the delights and the joy of growing your own food and flowers-gardening is truly one of the most rewarding and pleasurable activities you can ever engage in. It clears the mind and soothes the soul like no other activity known to man can do.

There are so many different types of flowers and plants that you can grow. But watch out! You can't just get online or head down to your local garden store and grab a whole bunch of seeds and then expect to grow blue ribbon flowers, vegetables, and fruit. Choosing the right seeds for your garden is a decision that has to be based on a number of different factors. You need to think about the mineral content of your soil, the type of soil that you have (clay? sand? all of this matters), the climate in your area, the average rainfall that you receive, and how much sunlight your particular garden site will receive. You also need to think about the pests that live in your yard and which plants will be able to withstand these pests. Also, when you are planting your garden, you need to think about each different spot and which plant should go where-some plants, like tomatoes, like sun, while other plants prefer shade.

The majority of the following steps to help you choose your garden seeds are applicable to both vegetable gardens and flower gardens. However, each type of garden will require slightly different planning based on your needs and what type of garden you are envisioning.

1. The first step in choosing your garden seeds actually deals with your climate and your soil. Look at the area where you want to plant your garden. Look at the type of soil that you have. Is it like clay? Is it like sand? Do you have nice, rich topsoil? You can contact your local extension office and take a sample of your soil in for them to test in order to determine the mineral content of your soil. Talk to your local extension office or talk to an expert at a local garden store or nursery. They can help you determine what you need to do in order to make your soil more acceptable for plants. You also need to think about your climate. What type of rainfall do you receive? Does it get really hot where you live? Does it get really cold? Putting all of these different components together will help you determine what types of garden seeds you should buy.
2. The next step in choosing your garden seeds is looking at the seeds themselves. Whether you are buying your seeds from a catalog or if you are buying your seeds at a local garden store, there will be information about the right environment for those seeds. Many seed packets will have the country divided up into different zones, and then will note which zones are best for each particular plant. Make sure that your garden is right for each plant that you want, whether it is for your vegetable garden or your flower garden. For example, if you live in the desert, it's going to be pretty difficult for you to grow flowers that need a lot of water, like wisteria. If you live in a cool area that doesn't get a lot of sun, many vegetables won't want to grow.
3. If you are thinking about planting a flower garden, decide whether you want to plant annuals, which are flowers that you will have to plant each year, or if you want perennials, which come back every year. This will determine the types of flower seeds that you will grow.
4. Think about your skill levels. Certain flowers and vegetables and fruits, such as melons, need a lot of care and tending. Other flowers and vegetables are quite easy to grow, such as wild flowers. Also make sure that you know whether or not the plants that you want will end up being a vine, or if you will need to stake them. Don't buy sunflowers if you don't want tall plants and are looking for just a ground cover instead!
5. Make sure that you look at the layout of your garden and choose garden seeds accordingly. If you don't have a lot of space, then you won't want to plant pumpkins. If you want some tall plants and some short plants in your flower garden, you can choose garden seeds accordingly.