I'm new to this forum, but I'm big on frugal gardening. If it helps, I'm doing basically the same thing. I'm restoring neglected beds at our new (old) farmhouse, but I'm going with tried and true plants that I know are long lived in this area, and I'm moving around the plants (like peonies, iris, hostas, sedum, daylilys and shrub roses) that have managed to survive being surrounded by weeds. As I clean out the beds I'm going to divide what I already have to fill them, and then add in things like purple coneflower, black eyed susans, and hollyhocks, that I'm winter sowing now. I'm shaking things up a little by doing different varieties of the same plants that I'm raising from seed, but it's the same concept. I'll probably go out and buy clematis and more roses, but not many. There are flower beds all over this farm, and I can't afford to fill them with new plants every year, plus it's a ton of work. I'd rather enjoy pretty combinations of plants that I know will live than struggle with ones that wont. It's not boring at all--good for you.

I think using what you have is a wonderful idea. Some of the prettiest outdoor layouts I have seen are of the same plant planted in mass.
It helps too if you have a gardening buddy you can trade with.
Sometimes just having the same plant but in a different color can make the entire garden feel new and different.

A friend who married well had to landscape the yard. She and her husband bought snazzy irises from mail order catalogues. Her housekeeper got involved. She had seen some nice wild irises in a drainage canal (a nasty, effluent ridden, snake haunted drainage canal) and forced her grown son, with matronly guilt, to go down there and dig them up (As I have been forced to do this by a relation, I will tell you it is a stinky, germy, shoe ruining job for which you are never paid). So he went down and snagged so many that all the family gardens were filled with irises. Still haveing two bags of tubers, the housekeeper brought them to work and handed them over. My friend was not very impressed with the humble offering and scraped a narrow grave for them behind the snazzy irises, just to get rid of them and avoid hurting the housekeeper's feeling.
Guess which ones were blooming madly a year later, and which ones were utterly gone?

I can't afford new plants every year either... and thanks to a bathroom remodel 'gone wrong' over the winter, I'll be lucky to squeeze out enough for seeds and maybe a small potato order this spring. I'm seriously thinking about trying to do the same thing with some of my perennials. Last years gardening adventures were mostly consumed by hardscaping... extented some retaining walls, carved out some new paths, and created some new planting spaces out of what was formerly lawn...the down side of having some extra space to work with, is that it looks extra barren to me now.

On the bright side, I've been making my own compost, for free...and should have plenty of it to work with this season. But to fill everything in the way *I'd like* it to be will take me much longer than one season to accomplish. And I'm not quite accomplished enough with gardening in general let...sometimes my transplants don't take, or seedlings don't live. I moved to a much higher altitude about 5 years ago... its so different from what I'm used to; about half of whatever I try seems to get messed up. lol...what can I say. ;)

Another thing I might try this year, is planting some cover crops or green manure in the areas that I'm still not sure what to do with. Maybe even some colorful annuals that will be 'easier'...just to have something in the ground while I ponder on how to establish the 'trickier' plants, that I can't afford to...possibly sabotage? I'm thinking... if I start with one or two perennial plants that are 'new' to me, and if I can manage to keep them alive for the whole season? They won't be new to me next year...I can worry about learning a few more varieties then. In theory...

But for now, the bare spots bother me too...

I have some nice woolly thyme that I'd like to establish on the new rock walls. A few iris that could stand to be split up, and maybe some definable. I'm even thinking about trying to root some cuttings off my lilacs...when I know very little about how that works. I've tried to take cuttings off my basil in the kitchen before, and even those never live. lol...it hasn't stopped me from trying though...

I've got Columbine and Cone flowers stratifying in the fridge downstairs...do I think. I've never got them to germinate before, but one of these times, I'm bound to get lucky... in theory?

Another thing I'm pondering... Of the seeds I might try, getting them locally can save some money on shipping. That's a catch 22, because some of the things I've got my heart set on...I can't find atone here. Red carrots. Alpine strawberries. Birdhouse gourds. White pumpkins. Chocolate mint... that I'm not even sure can be purchased as seed. I like to try things that are unavailabe, or too expensive to buy at the store. The seed potato I do plan to order though... I had some scab last year, and it won't be the same around here without at least a few purple potatoes, though...I need to find a new place to put those.

Leslie in CO

I don't think any yard with as many different flowers as just your list of "basics" is boring. To the unemotional, casual observer, most people agree that repetition and massing creates a more cohesive and planned effect. One-of-a-kind gardens are more often seen as unkempt, unplanned, straggly, wild.

For annuals this year, I got one flat of pansies on clearance and a handful of various seeds. If only half of the seeds produce flowers, I'll still have a huge increase over the spending same money on little plants.

Do you have any relatives/friends/neighbors who could trade some plants with you? A swap in your area? Those are good ways to increase your variety for free.

Another good source for very inexpensive plants is your local Master Gardener Plant Sale.
Our local Master Gardeners have a sale EVERY year. The plants they sell come form the gardeners' own gardens AND from the community gardens they maintain. I think the most expensive plant there was 5 dollars and considering it's size was well worth it.
I've picked up some interesting plants without busting my budget. The best part is because they are locally grown they seem to survive much better than the stuff you buy from the garden centers or catalogs AND the Master Gardeners are very willing to talk to you about soil, water and care tips.

LesIsMore...if you are having a hard time getting your seeds to harden off so you can plant them may I suggest you look up winter sowing here on the garden web. It works VERY well and my success rate with my seedlings has increased greatly since learning to do this.

I did that this...wintersowing. Kind of. I'm at a really high altitude, but get tons of sun. I had my doubts that it would work up here, so I wintersowed all my 'ancient' seeds...just to see. Thinking it wouldn't be a huge loss if nothing came up? (yeah...I'm a chicken)

But it worked! A few things are coming up, as of a few days ago. Purple coneflower, Mexican hat, some lettuce, an orange daisy that wouldn't germinate for me last year, spinach. I really wasn't expecting any of those seeds to be good...so I'm happy. Maybe I'll be a little braver now, and put more stuff out next winter.

Ironically, NONE of the seeds I started in the house came up. Not sure what I did wrong. Put them in the windows this yesar, maybe it got too hot. Maybe they were too wet? Maybe that bag of seed mix was bad. Its still early, but now I'm chicken to start more seeds in the house. Lol! I've never had trouble before, but something went ultra wrong this time... and whatever it was, don't want to do it again.

Les

You will be doing exactly what is always recommended on gardening shows, repeat your plantings to produce waves of color! I did that by accident when we first moved into our new home because I had large spaces to fill and not a lot of money. After the plants settled in and started to thrive, I realized that by being cheap I had actually created a cohesive look for the new garden.

Good luck!

Another frugal way to add plants at reasonable or minimal cost is to trade with other gardeners, some will be more than happy to share their plants with you.

"That's right. I'm sick of buying stuff that may or may not survive." Me too! My favorite flower is called "Deer Resistant"!!! I'm trying to plant a perennial border around my vegetable garden to keep out the critters. I do have an ugly fence around it, but the bunnies when they're little can sneak under and the deer can jump over it. So a perennial fence it is!

I'm planting lots of perennials that will hopefully spread or can be divided. So its oregano, Egyptian onions, garlic, bee balm, coneflowers, black eyed Susans, irises, tiger lilies (which I recently read deer will munch on, but I have LOTS of them), salvia, daisies and poppies.

I'm still putting in the border.

I'm collecting seeds from the stuff that is blooming in vacant lots or roadsides and will mix it with used coffee grounds to maybe protect it from birds and rake the area I want flowers in and scatter the seeds.

After that, it's Darwin :)

Do you belong to a local plant swap group? I get tons of new fun plants twice a year from our members. The best part is they are all grown for awhile by the giver so we know they will live in our yards. Do look up a swap group close to you. If you can nt find one, start one. Pepole love to share!