Kabby, I can't grow agapanthus either, or at least can't get it to bloom! Same with TB iris. I've got an entire bed of them that is about to be ripped out because so few of them bloom for me. I've tried everything iris growers have suggested with no luck. :( I'm sure there's plenty of other stuff I can't grow, but those are the two that come to mind right now. LOL
Jan

Alocasia macrorrhiza variegata. I've tried small ones and they never made it through the winter in the greenhouse. Last year Nelson ran across some nice size ones at a local nursery at a very reasonable price. I bought two, and they did well until February when the outside temps began to moderate and greenhouse temps were down right warm. By April they had melted to mush. So, I'm giving up. I'll be happy with Macro and Portodora and variegated wentii.

franklinia alatamaha and zenobia pulverulenta are two that i won't try again. they are fairly expensive. the first dusty zenobia that i had did very well for 3-4 years but gave up the ghost during the summer drought (my best guess).
tried 2-3 more and they never settled in and did not make one full year.
the ben franklin tree failure may be due to my location near cultivated fields from years ago. supposed to be something in the soil from old cotton fields to adversely affect them.
i am having success with lithodora for now. have planted quite a few of them and now have one for 3 seasons. it is critical that it have adequate moisture but sharp draninage, best i can determine. am also thinking it like afternoon shade down here. love that blue color!
many of the beautiful northern conifers don't make it for me in zone 8 but i keep trying different ones.

I can't get callas to bloom. They are my favorite flower, so I keep on trying, year after year. I have moved/added bulbs in several spots around my yard. I get nice foliage, but not one single bloom, ever. I have had a few drought casualties when life was too busy to baby them through, like dicentra and columbine.

For me, Buddleia. It's supposed to be easy, but all I have tried have sloly descended into dead plants. This is true whether they are in containers or in the ground.

For me it is species impatiens, hardy and non-hardy. I have tried them in the greenhouse and in the yard. They grow and grow and grow and then they just wilt or they get spider mites and roll over and die.

Well, I complained about the alocasia macrorrhiza variegata and Lo and Behold I have five sprouts coming up. I really thought God had better things to do than answer my pathetic prayers about plants so I didn't ask Him. I guess He accepted my humility (I know most of you are laughing at the humility part)and decided to bless me.

I've killed 3 Endless Summer Hydrangeas. I've given up on macrophyllas (sp?) (at least for now), but I haven't given up on all hydrangeas...I got a 'PeeWee' Oakleaf Hydrangea that is one of my new babies :) Hopefully the oakleaf will do better for me!

I also have difficulty with agapanthus, many hydrangeas, so called "hardy" lantanas for our area such as New Gold and Miss Huff, Foxgloves and Hollyhocks that will supposedly return each year froms seeds I never see again and now it seems my hostas in the area I designated as my hosta bed are getting too much shade lol. I didn't think that could happen. They get a little smaller each year and then some just disappear and a friend told me too much shade was the culprit so I don't know what to think now. I also have them in another north-facing bed that gets no direct sun where they are practically smothered by large shrubs and they are huge thriving clumps so go figure.

As for the lantanas, even in protected locations they bite the dust usually after the 2nd winter. I've been told to cut them back in winter which I tried, I've been told the opposite and that in zone 7b/8a you're not supposed to cut them back until Spring because water gets inside the hollow stems and freezes or rots the plant which I tried. The result is always death. And then I'll see these gorgeous huge established clumps that get 4 or 5 feet high and come back every year in other local landscapes. Grrrr.

Danielle

Guess what????? It must have done the trick to admit my utter failure with callas BECAUSE they are about to bloom!!!! Finally I found the spot for them, apparently! Yay! The colored ones are anyway, the whites which happen to be my favorite are not, and they are supposed to be the easy ones!

I feel you squirrellypete, one of the things that is so addictive with gardening to me is that there isn't always an answer, or one that we know anyway. Glad to have a Georgia visitor, I lurk on your forum often to see what ya'll are up to over there!

Lol, glad to hear your Callas heard your plea idig.

I'm an Alabamian now for the last 6 years but I started in the Georgia group when I was still living there with my folks, then I moved to my own home in AL but I sit only 8 miles from the state line so I still kinda' consider myself part of the GA group and left my info set up that way so I could still post to their exchange page for the spring swap. Plus my mom is still in Georgia and I'm constantly helping her with her garden. Very nice, helpful people I've met in both the GA and AL groups and have attended trades for each before. I can never check one forum without hopping over to the other to see what they're talking about.

Danielle

kabby and Jan, I've had good luck with Agapanthus, 'Storm Cloud', even though its not supposed to be hardy around here but I've got mine growing in a raised bed right next to a brick wall and its come back every year, this is the 4th for me.....What I've had trouble growing are those New Millennium Delphiniums from New Zealand, the big elatum types which are supposed to be more heat tolerant....I've read if I plant'em in the fall I "might'" get'em to come back instead of the planting them in the spring, could be, I'll see this year...Allan Armtiage says we can all enjoy the large delphiniums, just grow'em as an annual and pull'em up after flowering...I'm beginning to think he has a point, though I've heard from other folks down this way who've had luck growing'em.....I reckon you never know till ya try.....I can grow smaller Magic Fountains which are nice when grown well.....

Paul from Alabama..