things to grow in the southern ozark hills of Missouri

[gumbygardener]

Would any of you fellow gardeners happen to what are some really good things to grow here in Ozark hills of Missouri, where there is limestone everywhere and the soil is really rocky. its humid and is in zone 6B I looked up plants that I can grow in zone 6B already but i just want to see if any of you guys would have valuable insights! thanks guys! Im way excited to start growing soon! who else is??

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

I'm guessing alkaline soil. And then you said really rocky but humid. The yellow from of Jewelweed would probably be a good candidate, if you don't already have it. Pretty flowers, medicinal, and the seed pods are fun to play with (they spew open if poked or even touched).

I'll see if I can find anything else.

 

[so lucky]

Are you wanting ornamentals or edibles or both? I'm in Southern Missouri, but not in the rocky area. Rocky soil is not necessarily a bad thing. Helps with drainage, may prevent soil compaction.
You might want to have your soil's PH tested, but really, I think most garden veggies will do fine. And look around to see what does well. Check out other peoples' gardens, to see what works.
And Welcome.

 

[gumbygardener]

oh i have never heard of jewelweed before! that sounds pretty cool, thanks TheSeedObsesser!
and so lucky I'm going to have both ornamentals and edibles this year. I found out i live only 90 minutes away from Baker creek heirloom seeds so i think I'm going to get most of my seed from them, since they are in the same climate. like you are. What grows well in your garden?

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

They call it Jewelweed because they sparkle like jewels in morning dew/rain. I would check to see if it grows Native in your area first. If not I'll try to collect some seeds for you later this year, we have both orange and yellow forms growing here. The seeds won't be ready for you this year, but they will the next.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might want to contact your local Master Gardeners and see what they think.

http://mgozarks.com/

You're a little north of me but we should be fairly similar. My spring garden will have onions, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, beets, chard, kale, loose leaf lettuce, mesclun, and spinach. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. When the ground warms up I plant corn, beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, black eyed peas, squash, maybe melons. Sweet potatoes do great. I start garlic in the fall for summer harvest.

For herbs I have oregano, basil, dill, cilantro, thyme, chives, and parsley. I may have finally gotten some rosemary to live through the winter. We'll see how it handles this cold snap. Mint is in a corner next to a workshop where I can keep it tamed by mowing any that dares try to spread.

I don't do much for flowers, mainly zinnias and marigolds. Lantana is a nice annual for me here, it takes our summers pretty well. Black eyed susans are like a weed, they self-seed everywhere. From bulbs I have daffodils, iris, and gladiolas. A few lilies too.

I think you have a lot of different things you could do well with.

 

[gumbygardener]

Thanks the seed Obsessor, ill be on the lookout for Jewelweed, if i can't find any I let you know!
Ridgerunner thanks for the link! that was really useful. thats great to know, I know I am able to grow most things here, all of your plants you grow is a good list for me thank you! yeah I'm sure you got a big blanket of snow too if you are just south of me, i hope your rosemary makes it!

 

[so lucky]

Yeah, what @Ridgerunner said.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Not much snow really, about an inch. The freezing rain underneath wasn't bad enough to knock out power either so I made it through fine. People north of me got a lot more snow and some south of me a lot more freezing rain. It's been cold compared to the average but I've seen worse from that too. Compared to others I've done well.