Bad Luck Plants

I have had reasonable success with regular gray culinary sage, but this past winter took a toll on it. I plan to prune it way back and see if it returns from the roots. Tangering sage sounds intriguing. Is that an edible one?

Regarding the discussion of the garish combination of bright pink and yellow, I have an accidental pairing of Red flowering currant and daffodil. I forgot the daffodils were there lying dormant when I planted the shrub. What would look good with the currant. It is a really bright pinkish red? Anybody have some ideas?

Mauryhill, just back from a campout on Camano. The native ribes are gorgeous just popping out among all the understory greenery on the trails. So perhaps some nice foliage plants to let it really shine?

That particular color combination might not be too bad, actually. It all depends on the shades of color involved. For instance, I love chartreuse with a deep pink.
Yes on the foliage plants. The other thing that looks good is a ninebark, particularly a dark leaved variety. Or I say that because it's what I have. LOL! Seriously, the dark leaf is really nice next to the pink ribes flowers.

They both - Ribes and daffs - sing spring to me, so I have no problem w/ their being in proximity in space as well as in time!!!

Sometimes seemingly incongruent pairings can actually be quite nice. I once had blowsy bright orange oriental poppy next to some very regal dark bearded iris that I thought just didn't 'go' with one other, and eventually moved one. Only to find that exact pairing featured in a garden magazine as a great combo. Guess it's all in how one sees them. If you don't like them together, move one or the other, although you may end up moving them back again... That's the beauty of gardening.

mauryhillfarm Tangerine is edible. It's a relative of Pineapple Sage but I recall something was different about it. I can't remember but I think it was the shape or size of the leaves.

Pineapple sage. Yum. Yet another plant mentioned on these threads that I used to grow every year and forgot about. I will have to find some this year. The smell is so wonderful.
I also love lemon verbena.

One thing with heather-Never fertilize it and always prune to shape after flowering.
Campanula can be easily controlled by snapping off the flowers when they wilt. Then they keep blooming on the same stalk.

Is the pruning the same for heaths?
Also, on the campanulas, do you mean just snap the individual flowers on each stalk?

I picked up some pineapple sage today. Yum!

Yes, just snap off each flower as it wilts. I'm not sure about heaths.

My leopards bane has just begun flowering. I gave them a liberal dose of seaweed last summer, and they are lovely deep yellow amongst the Daff's and primroses.
Primroses seem to revert to puce after a few years..... anyone else notice this? The white don't but the bright colors seem to.
My Bergenia are not so bad, but a bit pathetic. I keep them for the winter leaves, the color is nice with Hellebores.

Yes, all my big brightly blooming grocery store primroses from years past are now all small dark purple nothings. I've banished them to a spot below my bay window overhang where they can all be boring together.

I have pineapple, common and purple sage on my deck. So far, so good.

I have a purple primrose that has stayed purple (no change), but I am noticing that it has naturally formed into several small rosettes. I guess it is telling me that it wants to be divided. I am kind of fond of that one except for its propensity to be slug chow. I also have a white one with yellow middle which I do not care for. That color combination makes me think of fried eggs, which I likewise do not prefer.

I am now intrigued by sage and feel the need to go find starts of several varieties.

I found tangerine sage this past weekend. I'd never seen it before, but oh does it smell yummy! I will be buying some very soon!!

I admit, I like basic primroses, mainly because they come in all sorts of colors and will sit there and happily bloom when nothing else does-mostly with little care. I like the blue ones and the bright pinks, mostly. I plant them with the thought that they'll either bloom for a while and die off or they'll stick around and I'll have them for a while. Basically, I think of them as being tulip-like. You're never sure if they'll be back and do anything again next year. I've also got the green lace one, what a fabulous plant!!! That one I just plain like! Luckily it's a big, robust plant. One of the best "ordinary" ones I have is a very plain white with, yes, yellow in the middle that Pixy was giving away pieces of. It's huge and happy and blooms like crazy and is just the thing I needed in that spot. I've had lots that just sort of disappeared. But, I've never had one revert to a blah color. Maybe those are seedlings?

They probably are seedlings. You are right!

ooh, nice bed!

they are lovely!

Ah, pixy's photo on another thread reminded me....lewesia! Just can't succeed with it!

Try putting them above the soil line with white rocks around them.

Finally tally on dead cistus is 3 for 2011. Only 4 left.

Yes, Sharon, they need perfect drainage.
Kosk, I feel your pain. I lost mine last year. They will not be replaced.

One I have yet to be successful with is Angel's Fishing Rod, Dierama pulcherrimum. Unless some have survived this year, I am 100% a failure with these and I've tried about 5 times. Money and time down the drain.

Oh, I've failed with Dierama too. Haven't tried with Cistus yet, but I'm feeling the urge.... must resist the heartbreak...

I have 2 live Dierama and one that bit the dust this winter. I think they need good drainage, but enough moisture in the Summer, and at the same time, sun. The one that didn't make it is in a spot that stays a bit too damp, and it has been especially wet this year.

I thought I provided them with all they required, but maybe they just hate me. I grew a couple of varieties from seed 2 years ago. They croaked. Then I tried again last year and managed to put some out in the garden. It's barely possible that one survived. It's too cold to tell yet.

Here's another one that was money down the drain:
http://www.fbts.com/acanthus-mollis-tasmanian-angel.html

I tried twice. The regular variety does very well for me, even without completely full sun. It just keeps going. I don't think this variety has enough green on the leaf to actually photosynthesize in our pale sun. Both times it died a lingering, slow death. Painful. very.

Yep. My Dierama croaked, too. Not going to bother with it again, either.

I've finally kept two Lewisia alive over two winters, by some complete miracle. One of them is elevated, sort of. It's in a pot with good drainage (and yes,coincidentally it's surrounded by rocks-but mine are gray and tan and their function is more to keep the pot from getting knocked over than anything else) The other is in my sandy loam bed where I'd tried one previously, but in a different spot. But, I have reduced the amount of watering that bed gets, so maybe that made all the difference.

The last hebe is coming out although it's partially still alive. It just happens to be in a spot where it gets peed on a lot and gets burned foliage-looks awful. It's because it's very close to the deck and it's quick to get to in the rain. I've decided I want to discourage that habit so close to the stairs, so something less enticing/lower will be going in there instead.

Halimiocystus is looking ragged, though still partially alive. Likewise several Hebes and a variegated Cayopteris that I love. I need to make some of those nurse-back-to-life or pull-it-out decisions. My worst loss this year though is my very large Ceanothus shrub that is usually glorious with blue bloom about now, but is mostly dead on the North side. So sad. I have pruned out the worst part, and plan to wait and see if anything miraculoously re -grows.

Oh, that's sad about your Ceanothus! I hope it comes back. The vareigated Caryopteris as well.

Holly, I lost my ceanothus two years ago. And it was very vigorous before that. Very sad. Thought something was coming back from the roots, but not to be.

Well I had planned to attempt Tangerine Sage again this year, however I passed up the opportunity when I spotted Honey Melon Sage.

I read once that ceanothus is a short-lived plant. Up to 10 years.

That is sad, Holly. I love a big ceonothus in bloom. I, too, have read that they are short lived.
Walking the garden today in what was a very brief sunbreak, I discovered two hydrangeas that may be completely dead. No growth at the bottom at all. Then I discovered two dahlias that are emerging after surviving the winter. Go figure.

You are scaring me with this ceanothus talk....mine are 10 years old, huge, and it they were to die we would lose our entire privacy hedge.

I believe they are shorter lived up here because of all the rain. They especially do not need extra water once established. In the wild they are said to live longer, so maybe you have several more years left in yours.

Good idea to share bad luck plants! I have love/hate relationships with several. Rosemary would be at the top of the list, though I've had marginal success with the trailing variety. Every other upright type has grown huge, then died over the winter leaving an ugly mass to dig out in the spring. We have regular herds of deer moving through the property, so I planted several since they leave it alone - yeah, great idea - or so I thought.

Varigated Petasites has turned into a creeping monster, and root wevils love it, so it mostly looks like varigated swiss cheese next to the pond. I would use that systemic root wevil stuff, but don't want to apply so close to the pond, so I put up with it. One day I'll take a torch to it, I swear.

Lingonberries have also run amok. I love having the berries in the fall, but the plants don't play well with others in the garden and crowd out everything else sending runners everywhere. Plant in a container or raised bed, or, better yet - don't plant!!!!

Ajuga grows wherever it wants to - the lawn, the driveway, mostly anywhere I don't want it. Unfortunately I have it in every shape and hue.

I've learned to deal with the salal since we have about an acre of it surrounding us. I prune it mercilessly (down to about 12 inches) and sprinkle Epsom Salts around the base of the plants to green them up when they look sickly. It comes back beautifully, but the trick is keeping it trimmed back.

Galega, these are great tips. I have a beautiful Lingonberry that was given to me by a member in the forum. I'm wondering now if I should lift it.

And I, like, you, have a lot of salal. In many places mine is scraggly. I cut it down pretty hard, but hadn't thought about the additional fertilization. Good tips!

Oh, good tip on the salal! Root weevils love mine, though. Frankly, root weevils love almost everything in the yard.
I have some lingonberry, a small variety, and it has not run amok. I kind of wish it would spread a little better. Likely I have it planted somewhere that is only marginally good for it.
I have had no luck with the trailing rosemary, but the regular does very well under one of my big fir trees. I lost it over this winter, but it was pretty old and I think they are a bit short lived around here.
Lemon thyme: bad, bad plant! Seeds everywhere all the time, even after I pulled it out two years ago. I'm still pulling seedlings.
Linaria purpurea 'cannon went' - a lovely thing. Nice foliage, great little pink flowers. Insane seeding. I have to keep it firmly under control by cutting off the flowers long before I want to.

Oriental poppies. I love them. I hate them. I love them I hate them. You get the idea. My soil is really too rich for them to grow well. They flop. They sprawl. The only way to get rid of them is to use round up. I haven't been able to bring myself to do it.

The worst place I have ever found root weevil, the one pictured here, was in my EAR!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, while sleeping I was visited upon by a strawberry root weevil. Sorry if this is off topic, but I felt compelled to share my joy!!!!!!!!!

OTOH - I just this AM discovered that I am losing a huge grand fir that I planted 30+ years ago. The killer? Balsam woolly adelgid - and there is nothing that can be done. It is a risk to those who plant true firs in the PNW.

This message was edited Jun 9, 2011 6:15 PM

Dwarf Nandina Domestica. The ugliest shrub I've ever seen. They even look terrible in the nurseries. A bunch of these came with my house. This is where mine are ending up today: The trash! I finally dug out these horrid eyesores, and it feels really good. I still have 6 or 7 more in the backyard, which look a little better, so I'm leaving them for now.

I hope my post didn't offend anyone who loves them----believe me, if you love them---they must be looking a lot better in your yard. Mine seriously looked terrible.