If you plant varieties that are good for cutting like zinnias or daisies, you can have fresh flowers in the house all summer. Read your seed catalogs closely. They provide many useful tips for the care of each type of flower or vegetable. If you are planting perennials you will want to be sure they are hardy in your area, so that the winter chill won t kill them. Some plants like cannas require digging in the fall.
Most roses do best if they are trimmed back and covered with a rose cone or mulched well.
You ll want to pay attention to the colors of different flowers and how tall they will grow. No sense putting a six foot cosmos in front of six inch Peter Pan zinnias. When selecting vegetables it s always best to choose varieties that are resistant to the most common plant diseases. Seed catalogs will give this information as will the tags on most vegetable plant packs you can buy at local stores during the planting season. Consider the space you have available for your garden.