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don't waste my time plant!
This year I have decided to remove my lavenders. They take up a lot of my time, trimming back and the return isn't great. I only grew them for the bees and have decided this year that they are on the compost heap. I have a small garden and can't really afford wasting space on plants that don't earn their keep. It's taken me a good few years bit the bullet though ....what is your challenging plant?
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I'm, with you on lavender. Only planted it a couple of years ago and it is so not worth the effort.
Rosemary may go to the GC in the sky this year, grown in pots, it grows woody very quickly and I seldom cook with it. The jury's still out on a further attempt at growing bulb fennel, may try one last time only because if the bulbs don't develop the leaves can still be cooked with.
I've also a rambling rose whose days are numbered, it did not produce the desired growth last year and had black spot.
Pink Pampus grass. Grown too large, it is vicious to prune and only produced one pink plume this year. It has been a good wind break and the hedgehog hibernates under it, but I can sort out other options for the hedgehog.
Oh, to have a climate where hedychiums become invasive, instead of being potted and mollycoddled in a greenhouse for the winter.
Onions. Every year I buy sets, plant sets, protect from birds, hoe between the rows and eventually harvest - only to find that the bulbs are exactly the same size as when I planted them! Not worth the bother in my garden.
Lavenders going this year for me too. Most montbretia now gone and I'm getting rid of some of the headbourne h agapanthus as they are thugs here too.
Landgirl, if you want to try giving onions one more chance, start the sets in modules in a cold GH or coldframe and plant out when well rooted. Works for me on my cold clay soil which gave the same results as you had when I planted them direct.
Lavenders and rosemary grow really well here. I like my lavender hedge.
I wish the montbretia and euphorbia grifithii wouldn't keep dying! And I lost my lovely Headbourne Hybrid Agapanthus 2 winters ago. Had to buy them in England as they don't seem to sell them in Dordogne. Should have brought them in, but they'd got so big and heavy. What one can grow depends so much on the climate. Long, hot, dry summers here and really cold and often very wet winters, also snow.
Earlier this winter I dug out a rampant phygelius. 3 or 4 years ago I dug out a rather nice, but past it's sell by date, blueish juniper and I had a lovely new area for planting!
Great hedge Lizzie, bet it smelled wonderful.
Hi BL, that look a perfect spot for your lavender hedge which looks wonderful! It just doesn't get enough sun in my garden so has to go unfortunately. Try growing the h.h. agapanthus from seed - that's what I did and then used the seed those plants produced to grow more - I found them very easy to grow that way and if you keep doing that you will always have a supply of replacement plants should any die in the winter. Some of those I grew that way turned out to be much hardier than others - natural selection and all that! I'd recommend growing them for at least 3 years in containers before planting out into borders though.