What won't you plant in your garden?

Some of the prettiest weeds pop up in the middle of sidewalks, and I leave them alone. If it's pretty, it kinda pays its keep, IMO.

I've gotten used to the lambs ear flower stalks, although they are definitely different. But the bees love them, and I really like to encourage the bee population. I even occasionally see the increasingly rare honeybees in my yard ever so often; they have really declined in population due to the mite problem.....so sad.

The only insects I actively discourage are aphids, ants, slugs/snails, and yellowjackets. Hate them, hate them, hate them. I planted asclepias one year and the yellow aphids convened on it like starving men at a banquet feast. Never again!

That's one thing I'll give my yard, even with the moondust soil. I have tons of wasps and bees. I could do without the wasps....

I won't ever plant Hostas again. For the variegation they have, I could substitute lots of other things right in the same flower bed!! I can't stand the simple, ugly, nondescript flower they have. You sure don't get much in return!!!

The other flower I will not BUY again is Daylilies. At no time, is there a clump of flowers, just a clump of foliage with spent blooms hanging off. I think they are over-rated as to their beauty. The foliage gets so ratty looking (with rust) even while they're blooming, that there has to be constant attention to them. UGH!!

Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yellow jackets eat more aphids than anyother critter in the garden. They are my best friends and I have rarely been bitten by one while in my garden. Now I don't swat at them or take down their homes. So we are friends in my garden.

wow, that is a cool bit of information. Now if I could persuade the mosquitos to eat aphids, we might have a deal...

What is a misquito? I could use more predators in my garden. Send me some. Oh boy a friendly insect comming my way.

HollyAnn, you must tame that trumpet vine with a bull whip. Lovely. I wish mine was that well behaved.

I just started into hostas and really do enjoy them for something different and in the shade were its cooler on a HOT summer day!! :)

I will always have daylilies and keep breeding my own-i have a few that i will register in the next few yrs!!!
You can deadhead dayliles(all flowers)to keep them tidy looking but dont break off the seed pods-you may have a $100.00 seed in there :) and they are edible!

I think some flowers work for some locations & not in others. Talking zones & states not single yards. I don't dislike any plants. Our house sits east-west. So we have a long wall on the north side. When we moved here there were "Ditch" lilies along that side. Same as your orange ones I'm sure. They need no maintenance, have never got out of bounds. Only thing that grows among them is an occasional Black Walnut.
Around here most dianthus will be perennial, & bloom twice a year. I have Arctic Fire & Neon Rose amongst the rocks, different annual varieties for borders, & some tall ones in back of some places.
Daylilies, Orential lilies, Asiatic lilies, Iris are all planted in any open spot. The flowers are great, can't get colors like that out of most things.
Petunias fill big voids here. A great variety of colors & types. Here they bloom from planting until hard freeze. Some are still full of color after some 10º nights.
I have a bunch of Lamb's Ears in the back of my pond area. They are staying put & give the spot the required look. I just let them bloom they cut the dead flowers off. Of course you must do that to make anything look good.
I raise 1000's of Gladiolus for selling as cut flowers. I can see why you would not want them in a flower garden. They only bloom once, the flower looks terrible after couple days. People do not cut them off either. Here they are a crop in the field.
I had some Rudbeckia in my pond area bed. They are terrible, send seeds everywhere, so you end up weeding them. They don't come out easy either when they are small.
Another, looks good-terrible plant is Malva. It also seeds everywhere, hence another weed.
Here's a little of our flowers this past summer.
Bernie

I won't plant english ivy...I've spent untold hours yanking overgrown vines out of my lawn, off the house, off the garage, off the trees, etc. Yes it looks nice, but it strangles plants and destroys buildings and it is a royal pain in the you-know-where. I have also learned, through sad experience, not to plant anything that can't survive soggy clay soil, a family of woodchucks, and a herd of hungry deer. (It's a good thing I DO like rudbeckia, daylilies, and dandelions, that's about what I can grow here! :) )

pam