Donna and Carrie: That is so so so helpful. I am incredibly grateful. Wow. Thank you. Thank you!!! I have been wanting just that information forever.
what are you sorry you planted..
Not me, Happy, just Donna! You didn't want to know about weedy yarrow forever, I don't think.
LOL -- you are right, Carrie -- at first I thought you were going to add something about lilies, and then didn't fix my post.
'Sok, I don't mind a little false credit now and then. :-)
I'll tell you, isn't it the truth that sometimes that's the best kind!
Now, Donna, what about the kinds of lilies that didn't work?
^_^
Well....
Stargazer. I find it's very fragile, and if I lose one, the remaining bulb doesn't exactly jump up to multiply. I think it's a gift pot lily and not meant to go into the ground. I put in 3, and I've had ONE for at least five years. It doesn't get taller, bigger or more productive. I'd rip it out but my husband asked for it in the first place.
The orientals Tallahassee, Lavender Lady, Pesaro. Never turned up.
The Orienpet Luminaries. Naturally, I've never paid more for a lily.
Other than Luminaries, they have all disappeared from the catalog company I bought them from. But that is the company that graciously gave me not three, but six Sorbonnes, a wonderful lily, as you can see from the pic. They suggested it because it is reliable. And it has been.
Donna
We here in New England have given up on all lilies with the exception of dayliliies thanks to the Lilly leaf beetle. kt
Kt,
Yes, I've been reading about it for the past few years. Such a shame. It's really sad. I'm sorry I reminded you.
Donna
Runktrun: I'm so sorry -- I had no idea about the lily leaf beetle.
DonnaMack: Thanks again. I though most lilies disappeared after a year or two; I didn't realize they would perennialize.
hostas have broken my heart. I have 20 or 30 bought all at the same time but some now show signs of hvx. :( I wish I'd never heard of hosta.
Bluesmaven,
I had never heard of hvx. I don't have hostas, but I went onto a website to educate myself. What a horrible disease! Apparently a lot of garden centers don't know about it and are still selling plants that will show the (quite fatal) infection in a year or two. And the articles I have read in really good garden magazines (Garden Gate, Horticulture) don't mention it, but recommend hostas for a variety of landscaping solutions. The ease with which it spreads is unbelievable. I have several friends who acquire all their plants through trade, and have hostas. I let them know that they should not accept any from anyone.
Thank you for the head's up.
Donna
Yeah it's such a sad thing. I love hostas.
Batchelor Buttons!
The perennial ones?
I'm sorry I ever planted any Monarda - they just spread so fast and get so tall! And I keep planting new ones that are supposed to be shorter ... slow learner. I'd love more bachelor buttons!
Monarda definitely spread fast! I have to keep the Jacob Kline for the hummingbirds though. They love them. I also have to keep some purple ones I grew from seed because butterflies love those. So I am happy with them but man do they want to be the only plant in the garden they are in!
My friend gave me a small piece of some perennial Bachelor Buttons, or some people call them Mountain Cornflowers? Are those the ones you like or do you mean the reseeding annual types?
I like the annual types - sometimes I scatter seed from a package and they do nada, but if I WS them they sprout but I forget to transplant them! (Poooor me.)
I tried them a couple years in a row (wintersowing) and I forgot to transplant them as well. I think I managed to get a couple in but after the neglect, they were pitiful! I've seen pictures of other peoples that let them reseed and they look so much better than what I got. I have been trying not to mulch, so I can allow annuals to reseed but man there are a ton of crab grass seedlings now! It looks like a full lawn trying to fill in my flower beds right now! I need to get out and pull some but I have no motivation for some reason!
Yup - I'm with you there. Same with cosmos.
I did good with cosmos one year but last year was a flop. I had like one nice one and it had reseeded itself! lol :)
That's good. I know what you mean about mulch! We had a path lined with forget-me-nots (they were claimed to be perennial). Turns out they were only perennial as long as they reseeded which they needed light to do, so when you mulch over them in the late summer, they forget to come up ever again. Some perennial!
I just ripped out all the forget me nots that had done a good job of filling in after only one year of letting one plant go to seed. It seems someone decided to surprise me and sprinkle a packet of seeds in my front walkway garden. lol They weren't the ones with showy flowers (if there are any) so when they started to look a little yellow I ripped them all out. I think there are much prettier things that I wouldn't mind over running the garden. : ) Of course I haven't tried others, so I might change my mind!
I've spent five years now trying to dig out pink evening primrose - I absolutely hate that stuff. I started out with a small clump and ended up with it taking over and destroying one of my front beds - and that was in one season! Never again, I won't even give it away when I find it; it goes straight to the firepit. I've had some problem with the obediant plant but it's fairly easy to yank for me. After reading this thread I am definitely going to replant the 'Oriental Limelight' into a pot. Luckily, I just planted it last week so I can still get it out of the ground.
Boy I'm glad I passed that one up.. It is really pretty though.
Meredith, the FMN can't germinate w/out light. A little well-placed mulch should help protect you.
Thanks Carrie! : )
I have really enjoyed reading over this thread. However, it is getting rather long, and I would love to continue it. I hope no one would mind if I started a continuation thread. Here goes. Please join in on the 2nd thread :)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1105209/
Deleted, didn't see Part 2 continued in another thread.
This message was edited Jun 18, 2010 10:06 AM
Lemon Balm and Trumpet Vine! I should have known better. Anything that someone was eager to give away...and the lemon balm doesn't smell lemony to me-it smells like feet!
the trumpet vine has been hacked out for two years, and is still trying to take over the neighborhood. Oh well, live and learn!
I wish I hadn't planted my two apple trees. One is Gala and the other is Fuji. The Gala was planted in 2007 and the Fuji in 2008. Neither has ever bloomed so I haven't had to worry about coddling moth and all the other bad things that I've learned from DG since planting them.
I have a good Stihl 20" chain saw and it should help me get rid of these two useless ground user-uppers so I can plant something that will fruit -peach trees anyone?
This is something i wish the previous owner had not planted. Lemon balm, it is everywhere! On the up side, when we wack it, it smells wonderful!
I can't remember if I already said this, but I regret planting Persicaria virginiana var. filiformis 'Lance Corporal' (http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53502/), and trumpet vine.... both have proven very invasive.
Coreopsis 'moonbeam'. I had in a whiskey barrel, it needed dividing, so I split it in half and there were 2 (two) stalks left over. The halves both died, but the two stalks have taken over the entire yard!
Probably already said that above!
Really? I love Moonbeam -- I think I'd be happy if it took over. But probably not....
An elm tree seedling in 1976. It's roots lie on top of the ground and I am tired of stumbling over them. It has great shade, though. Luciee {;^)
I can't even remember them all. But I am now starting to pull all the seedlings from sweet rocket as there was no way I could get ahead of it before it went to seed---I have hundreds of square feet of it. A plant that looks slightly similar is wild phlox. I was driving along a country road and saw the magenta blooms. I always wanted phlox so I assumed this was the same as garden phlox and really it looks almost the same--but it spreads and is impossible to dig out. Every tiny root grows into a plant and the roots are long shaggy things covered with plants ready to grow. Today I saw a huge black swallow tail butterfly on a cluster so for now I guess I am just going to enjoy it--anyway it smells nice at night and the clump is now close to fifteen feet across---my wife calls it my flocks of phlox------------------Weedy
I started a new thread:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1275104/