What won't you plant in your garden?

Hollyhocks,
Are wonderful flowers, beautiful to look at easy to grow and they do a great job hiding trash cans. My friend grows beautiful Hollyhocks and is always offering me seeds the problem is. When I was a child growing up in the city all the houses planted Hollyhocks and the end of the yard to screen off the area with the trash cans. I just can’t plant them in my yard no matter how beautiful the flower all I think of when I see them are trash cans.
Daylilies,
I have a friend who is the same way with Daylilies her Grandmother who lived out in the country planted Orange Daylilies around her Outhouse. This friend was visiting and said “Oh I see you planted Outhouse Lillies.”She won’t have Daylilies in her yard either. I think hers is even better than mine. Holly

That is funny. I grow Hollyhocks to hide the trash cans and my grandparents grew them to hide the out house. They remind me of my grandfather. He also planted them along the side of his house just like they did in Sweden. Grandma always said that the Hollyhocks were grown around the outhouse so that 'ladies' could see where it was and not have to ask.

I am trying to think of something I won't grow. I will get back to you on that one.

Anything from the mint family.......I had to move to get rid of it..........but I do love my HH's

I guess the only thing I have been trying to get rid of ever since we moved into our house 7 years ago is daisies. They really look nice, but had taken over a good share of the yard and I didn't want daisies everywhere. I can't believe they keep coming back. I am trying to get them to spread at our cabin and they are very slow there. Go figure.

I have another friend with an old Farmhouse. She put in a fake Outhouse at the back of the garden with a stone path up to it and some cute accessories. She uses it to store her gardening tools. When I told her the story she dug up some of my Orange Daylilies to plant around it. We all had a good laugh when the 3 of us got together for a party at her house. Holly

Demstratt, I know what you mean about the Mint. Last month I was weeding out a strip in my garden to put seedlings in and as I was working the smell was wonderful but it was all Lemon mint. I don't think you can get rid of it all. Holly

Mint ;even when I planted it in a pot the roots came out the bottom. And I can only use so much mint jelly. Not everybody likes lamb so it is notmuch good for Xmas presents!
Clematis Tangutica :it is very hardy here - I had one by my front steps years ago but unless it is pruned hard every year it takes over. I know somebody who uses it to create privacy in their back yard and lets it grow up the trees there - it is probably 40 feet high across a 30 foot area!

No Bougainvillea, Oelander, and shrubs with thorns (Hybrid-Ts are allowed). No fountain grass.

no petunias (nauseatingly cutesy & smells like bathroom deoderant). no wisteria (very allergic). no celosia (just creeps me out). no pinks or sweet william (ratty looking). Or osage orange (just plain nasty)

How do sweet william and Pinks look ratty? Here in Montana they are quite nice. You know greenjay you have to water plants or often they look ratty. I don't plant day lilies, petunias, gladiolas, tulips, or any bulbs except Iris.

sorry dude. sweet william and pinks are a scabrous blight on the face of the earth. at least you have good taste where petunias are concerned!

Petunias. I have nothing against them really. They're a perfectly nice flower. But my mother used to buy flats of petunias and plant them everywhere, then complain about how gardening is such hard work and no one appreciated her. So when I see petunias I think of my mother, and it's NOT a pleasant association.

Hostas. EVERYBODY had hostas planted where I grew up. I'm simply tired of them.

Hollyhocks. We had hollyhocks when I was growing up, and I liked them. But I was playing outside when tons of hollyhocks were in bloom one summer, and I came out with giant hives. The doctor thought it was either the hollyhocks or the caterpillar I was playing with, so I've avoided both ever since.

Maybe you haven't seen a pink? I love you greenjay and respect your opinion but your are wrong. I have many more hanging out of rock crevices and creeping across stones and they are spectacular. Oh but only in my opinion. Respectfully Me.

And heres some nice Sweet William!

Wouldnt be without a many varieties of Dianthus in my garden!

soferdig -- you found Spalding! Good to know he made it back to terra firma OK.....

Who is spalding? I need to be more informed.

I love four o'clocks, but not for a mixed perennial border! Four o'clocks come up every where. I'm constantly pulling up and digging out plants and tubers; distrupting my other plants.

Deborah

Orange Trumpet Vine. I love it,Hummers love it,Husband says it has over taken his shop. He is correct. Just have to give it a hair cut! LOL I need a cherry picker to reach it all.

mints what a pain!!!
knutia ,gaillardia, ribbon grass,bouncing betty, chinese laterns,holly hocks,lemon balm,violets and im sure there are more that id never plant again in my garden!

Am I the only one here who watched Madagascar? (Hint: the original character was named Wilson)

I do not find oleanders, daylilies, elephant ears attractive. They are "Old Hat" - everywhere and boring. The same goes for mondo grass, privet hedge (both green & varigated), fig ivy, green shrubs that are "just there". They show a lack of imagination. Around here, with our long growing season, if it doesn't bloom (shrubs) or show some color, it doesn't belong, is my way of thinking. Someone once said that I must have some Latin blood the way I love color in my garden. I don't but my gardens are anything but boring.

Ann

well i havent found all daylilies boring-at least not yet

Cast Away :)

Weedlady, Yes I know what you mean about the Trumpet vine I just love mine but it is a lot of work. Here is a picture of mine.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/642000/

Yes, I picked up on Castway too and wasn't his denist Wilson?

Star jasmine. It won't stay in bounds and reaches truly amazing size here in Northern CA.
Morning glory, the perennial. Same thing; here it's evergreen and pulls down all but the sturdiest fences.
Tulips. I love them, but we just don't get enough winter chill, and it's disheartening when they don't come back.
Aristea ecklonii. The flowers are a beautiful sky blue, but fleeting and only come once a year, while the foliage is just boring. I can get more impact from agapanthus or evergreen daylilies.

I'm still fond of cannas, even though I didn't realize what thugs they are in coastal gardens. But it takes shovel pruning and some sweat once a year to keep those things in-bounds.

I had to go to a meeting in Richmond CA a couple of years ago and saw Agapanthus plated everywhere. In both the blue and white. I had never seen them before. Really pretty. They are planted in CA like we plant daffodils here I think. They are much prettier. I finally got some in a trade this year in early spring. Didn't do much but didn't die either. I have them in the ground, I hope to see them bloom next year!
d

NotMartha, Just got a good look at your Daylilie. Wow that is beautiful. I only had the orange till this year. Traded for some and can't wait to see what they will look like. What's the name of yours. Holly

Wilson was the soccer ball. Spalding was his dentist.

I blubbed when Wilson floated away. I was very sorry that the soccer ball was lost to the ocean.

I'm determined to plant some black mondo grass. It'll look great edging the black and white irises.

Morning Glory - hate it, hate it hate it. And Star Jasmine.

Lamb's ear, Stachys Lanata, nasty, ugly,nasty! Grew it last year, not a pretty sight, the pumpkins did not like to look at it let alone rub it!! The Midwest sun sent it on to moldy, brown heaven!

Love Lamb's ear, I have 1 that comes up every year and my friends keep telling me it's a weed and I'm to pull it out. No, No, No,

Holly, what do you find to love about Lambs' ear? ;0)

I agree garden6 about lambs ears. My DW planted them in "my" garden space and it took over and hid all the plants I had carefully planted with those awful big stalks of "flowers" (?) that look, well you guess. I tore them out this summer and composted them. They are good in the compost pile. LOL

Sofer~ mine didn't make it that far, the sun fried them crispy out of their and my misery! ;0)

Years ago we started a dirt pile on the back corner of the yard. Every time we had a project that required digging out, holes, driveway, deck whatever we would pile it up in the back corner of the yard and over the years it turned into a pretty good size pile. We would add or take away dirt depending on the job from the back of the pile. I started tossing plants into the pile just to cover it and make it look a little nicer since I see the front of it from my windows. I didn’t want to spend any money since I knew it was just a temp pile. A friend gave me orange daylilies which I planted on top of the pile and ornamental grass which I put in front of the pile. Some how we ended up with just 1 Lamb’s ear it was a volunteer growing in my dirt pile. At first I thought of it as a weed I didn’t bother to pull. There are a lot of other weeds in the dirt pile that I didn’t pull either. But every year it would come back and say look at me here I am again. It was only ever just the one. We have never gotten any more. Over the years the daylilies multiplied and I started weeding but for some reason I never pulled the Lamb’s ear. My Lamb’s ear just kept coming back saying look at me. Sometime over the years I finally did look at her and she is BEAUTIFUL.
We are planting a hedge of Hollies that will wrap around the back corner of the yard so
I’m in the process of moving my dirt pile we have taken out about 19 wheelbarrow loads and moved it behind the barn I don’t think I’ve even moved half of the pile I stopped when I got to the Lamb’s ear. I’ll have to be careful next year I need to find a new home for her. My daughter-in-law told me she has plenty of the ugly weeds at her house and I can have all I want. Maybe when I figure out where I’m going to put her I’ll have to go to my son’s house get some friends for her.
My Lamb’s ear must be persistent and I must be sentimental. Holly

Holly be sentimental, that one was an errant ewe! You move it, just might be persistent enough to turn into a demon weed for sure!! ;0)

It must be an acquired taste. I remember years ago seeing them in pictures of perennial gardens and thinking why would you plant that. Now I understand. Holly

Re: weeds. I've always thought of myself as a dandelion. They're bright, cheery, useful, persistent, and entirely unappreciated. LOL!

I won't plant anything that I have seen in sidewalks, on the side of highways, or in front of commercial buildings. And roses, I can't stand aphids.

here's a good use for lamb's ears -- plant them at the front of the border so that any kids or other curious folk will touch them, even mangle them, but leave your other less tolerant pretties alone. All the kids here love to "pet" the lamb's ears, and the silvermound artemisia. So long as they have SOMETHING they can touch they tend to leave everything else alone.