I once received a greeting card that said, “Every pan is a no-stick pan if you no-cook in it!” Actually I love to cook, but you get it. Here’s my co-opted garden version:
“Every bothersome plant is no bother at all if you don’t plant it!”
Weeds aside, every gardener can name a few cultivars they aren’t particularly fond of, and some are downright despised. I’m no exception. Of course there’s no right or wrong about this; everyone is entitled to their own tastes, positive and negative.
Then there are those plants that simply refuse to thrive no matter what we do to help, or they must be mollycoddled, or they run rampant, or reseed all over, or they’ve been hybridized to the point of gross distortion and worse. Some are just plain ugly, especially some of the newer hybrids.
Here’s what you won’t find growing in my garden. What’s on your “no-plant” list?
- Asiatic lilies
- Butterfly Bush
- Clematis
- Crocosmia
- Dahlias
- English ivy
- Forsythia
- Gladiolus
- Goldenrod
- Hybrid tea roses
- Lilacs
- Macrophylla hydrangeas
- Many bearded iris
- Most annuals
- Most double coneflower hybrids
- Most red-flowering plants
- Most succulents
- Nandina
- Sweet William
- Tropicals
- Trumpet vine
Finally, there are plants I’d absolutely love to have in my garden, but the deer have other ideas.
Critter Food
I’d grow all these if I could. Believe me, I’ve tried.
- Aster hybrids
- Crocus
- Daylilies
- Heuchera (Coral Bells)
- Hostas
- Hybrid true lilies
- Persicaria (Mountain Fleece)
- Prairie Clover
- Rosebay rhododendron
- Toad Lilies
- Tulips
