Ok, I know I am totally ripping of Val's thread but I'm equally as curious as to what y'all think is the three worst perennials. Obviously, this is personal preference and not meant to be offending to anyone's hard work in their yard.
For me it's these:
Hosta
Any ornamental grass
Pachysandra
What are your THREE least favorite perennials?
OK, I'll bite.
It's hard to separate those which are too aggressive in my yard
(lysimachia, ageratina, hesperis, persicaria, etc)
from those which I just don't like (those huge blue macrophylla hydrangeas).
I'm particularly annoyed by delphinium/lupine/meconopsis and all other sissy plants which bail out at the first hint of humidity.
I guess I'm just jealous of all the perennials that everyone else can grow but me.
Tradescantia and Apios Americana are the two I've been battling for 8 years and they keep showing up all over the place. Grrrr...
And this year I'm really mad at Delphiniums. I bought a bunch this spring and they all wimped out in no time- no height and so few blooms they didn't show up at all. IAnd the handful from last year didn't show up except for one plant, my least favorite, and that grew to the proper size and bloomed for about a minute. Never again.
Plants with natural yellow leaves, because I am always trying to "revive" them.
Delphinium because they are so floppy and stringy in my garden.
Grasses. To me, grass is a weed.
Bamboo
Wild Grape
Roses
Wow PFG want to share some of those tradescantia? Years ago a friend had some that looked lovely in her garden. I have 2 plants left. I think a part of me goes for the easy/fast spreading types....the more blooms the better :-)
How disappointing...I was winter sowing some gelatinous this winter....since I'm in yr area PG I wonder how they will fare?
Weerobin..I hear you! Embarking on huge garden project this year and turning backyard grass into garden beds.....I only hope my plants do as well as I'm hoping.
Yeah PFG, care to share that tradescantia? I love them. Cville, you're right on with that wild grape....so ugly hanging from trees. Wee...I don't do well with delphiniums either but my lupines are still green and doing well (not trying to rub it in)
Hostas, daylilies, 'Autumn Joy' sedum.
And they're everywhere!
Oh yeah, sedum is another good one.
Donna those are three way overused, but they are often so dependable and take little skill to grow and share. I can't call them least favorite as a whole.
Stella D'Oro is my least favorite daylily. Sedum sarmentosum my least favorite sedum, too stringy and gets everywhere.
Well, the question was least favorite, and those are definitely the ones. Actually, I detest them. Back in 1998 when my garden was being designed I specifically eliminated the three - and those were the only plants I specifically named. I think hostas look like toadstools, and that's before the slugs get them - and then they leave gaping holes when they go dormant. Daylilies look horrible when they are finished. And AJS looks like broccoli to me. When people offer them to me I decline. There were about 50 hostas in the house I moved to and I managed to get a neighbor to take 40 of them off my hands. There are many easy to grow plants low skill plants that can be shared that are lovely. A dear friend shared Nepeta Six Hills Giant and Joanna Reed with me, as well as geranium Bevans Variety, Biokovo and Karmina. Lovely fall color. I put lots of oakleaf hydrangeas and shade tolerant viburnums where the hostas were. They require almost no work.
A plant that is overused can be beautiful. Nepeta is a great example. It's gorgeous, and I have a lot of it in three colors, including the blue ones you see everywhere.
Well, you'll love it when you go look at the favorites. Mine are roses. Several people above named them as least favorite, and that's fine. I have a lot of beautiful, easy to grow, disease resistant roses that bloom all season.
There was a single hosta that was growing at my house when we moved in. I dug it out as soon as it came out of dormancy. I must not have gotten it all and some more popped up. That got sprayed with Round Up. No defense of hostas coming from me, that's for sure.
Yes, I'm still getting rid of new ones that pop up. Once they go dormant you can't see them and I planted lilies too close to them that I had to move this spring, so no bloom.
Oh - does Round-up work? I have some more that have popped up, and either they are going to that big hosta home in the sky or I'm going to try to sell them. My next door neighbor had horrible soil, and really bad garden practices, and he's also cheap, so I was thrilled to have him take them off my hands.
Yes, Round Up works great! Plus you get the extra joy and satisfaction of the plant withering before death. Sorry but I'm sick in the head like that. Sometimes I wait until the heat of the day to spray the weeds because they die faster and it's fun to watch. What a barbarian.
Barbarism can be wonderful! Heat of the day! OK! I have a extra large container of RU and I use my own sprayer for greater precision. Unwanted, sprouting hostas, here I come!
Thanks!
Lol...you're a hoot Donna!
Wow, I guess I better not say I'm a host a fan with this crowd...LOL!
When I first got married the first thing I put in was a lila in a nice way for yearsc bush....love them! The 2nd was dig up some hostas from my mother's that she got from my grandmother's years before. My backyard at the time was all woods....sides partially....lots of shade on3 sides and they filled space, were free, and did well. Then I got into adding a few different varieties.
I prefer "real" flowers (yes I know hostess flower...but you know what I mean!) But they have definitely filled a slot in my yards for years and kept on giving with no work. I think that is a huge part of their popularity
Sweet Alyssum is one of my least favorites. It is a perennial here and spreads everywhere. I'm constantly pulling it out.
Lol....my parents had a bunch of hostas at our house growing up and my Mom always made us cut the flowers off, don't ask me why. That just added to the lameness.
Just for the record... Tradescantia and Apios Americana come up in the crowns of Daylilies and Siberian Iris. I dig them out as well as I can, I have even discarded plants, and they are blooming again 5 minutes later. Everywhere else, I use Roundup, and once doesn't do it. I've been fighting them for 8 years. So puhleeeeeze don't ask me for my discards! Sorry to disappoint those who feel differently.
The apios americana looks like a fun one. If we were naming 4 of our least favorite, I would have added any vine besides clematis.
My 3 least favorite perrinials would have to be as follows.
1) Oenothera- show evening primrose
2) Aegopidium- Bishops Weed
3) Lysimachia clethroides- gooseneck loosestrife
They are all invasive garden thugs!
Oh you hosta killers are killing me!!! LOL! If I lived closer to you, I'd be sneaking into your yards tonight under the cover of darkness and saving them. Then again, if I came out in broad daylight, you would probably give me a shovel to use! LOL!
Lol!!! I would certainly give you a shovel to use :)
Taylor, I love oenothera, it's so beautiful and I love the way that it spreads.
One man's poison is another man's meat? Lolol...
There was a patch of Lysimachia Clethroides at our place I eliminated a few years ago, or thought I did. Then a little piece popped up and I didn't see it until it was blooming. But we have an area I'm trying to turn into a white garden and there's a rocky section where nothing seems to be happy because there's not enough soil. So far the only thing that survived there was Phlox, but it only got 12' high. So I took that one piece of LC and stuck it in there... I hope I haven't created another monster!
That's for sure, Pam. There is a house in the neighborhood that has a bed of hostas in full bloom all across the front. The blooms are ending now but they have been spectacular. Just so lovely this year.
I resent Hemerocallis fulva invasive ditch lilies, which so many people around here love cuz they're so "easy" and you can always get them from someone.
Sequoiadendron4, I can send you some if you would like some. I have been digging it out for several years, I still have plenty. The stuff is relentless! :-)
Pam, I did the same thing, with mine. I moved it to a barren patch and it's the only thing there. However, I'm still digging it out of it's original spot. Lol Why is it that deer never dine on the garden thugs?
Civille, I agree, Hosta plantings do look pretty in bloom! I wish, I had more shaded area's to plant more of them.
Taylor, which kind do you have? I'd take some if you had the pink variety but I already have a lot of the yellow.
Taylor, I'm with Sequoia...
I love oenothera....even the yellow. If you want to share, let's talk :)
Val
I guess this thread is proving that we all tolerate certain thugs-- but only certain very specific ones. And we all really, really hate the ones we don't tolerate. And none of us have exactly the same lists. Hmmmmmm... Big surprise? Or not, lol?
SallyG, I have Fulva and Kwanso and love both of them. I keep them separated from my hybrids, but love them just the same. After all, without the species we wouldn't have hybrids. They became popular in ditches because they are so good at erosion control.
I have the pink. Send me a dmail. Are you sure, you really want it? Once you plant it, you'll always have it. You can burn this stuff with a garden torch and it'll laugh at you. :-)
Pam, So, True! Lol
I think every ones favorites and dislikes depends on the type of yard they have. I love Hosta due to the moisture I have in my back yard. Everything else drowns, but they flourish. Anything I can find to grow there I am over joyed.
I like day lilies, but I hate how they look once they are done blooming. I hate ditch lilies because they are overtaking some of my other beds. I am trying the Ortho complete kill on them. Sweet Autumn Clematis is horrible here. It grows wild and is coming up everywhere.
Finally ,If the voles done like to eat it, then I love it...lol
This is an interesting thread! I LOVE hostas but I hate the all green ones. A variegated hosta given enough room (which I have found rather rare) is a magnificent plant to me. The same with ornamental grasses - but they have to have room! I also love Oenothera. Full of blooms for so long and so easy! I hate tradescantia - I don't think even the flowers are pretty. I also hate pachysandra and English Ivy. Boring as well as invasive. There are not too many things I hate but boring and green without even a flower will get me every time.
My hosta "June". I think it's a stunner.
I have a green Hosta that has the most amazing blooms... Otherwise, I'd agree with you. Boring and green =no good!
I'm really not crazy about Physostegia Obedient plant. Boring and green until September, the one I have anyway. Maybe I'm just bored with it, or have too much of it.
You probably have too much of it... I love mine, but have it in a very out- of-the-way spot because it spreads so much. I like it in a clump, not running all over the place.
Pfg, that really is it. I realized the same thing about bearded Iris. When I neglect them for several years, they become a huge clump and so unattractive when not in bloom.
They take up too much real estate, hahaha...
I love physostegia! See. It's all relative. When it blooms it's beautiful. I just love the pink in September when everything else is packing it in. It's like caryopteris - just waits until it can be the star.
