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bumblebeezgw

Favorite hated plant

I happen to like ligustrum (even the wild stuff) and bradford pears. I have neither mainly because I've been influenced by the prejudices of other gardeners here. But I'm thinking of adding a privet this spring in the background somewhere, just for the fragrance. But not as a topiary...

Comments (77)

  • plant_manager
    19 years ago

    I love morning glories! I live in the south now; grew up in the north where we had to plant them if we wanted to see them. Here they grow whether you want them to or not. I hate four o'clocks! They drop seeds and form those tubers. I am going to spray the area with roundup as it is impossible to get them all by digging.

  • lilycrazy
    19 years ago

    I have several forsythia in my yard- and most people I know hate it- they think its so ugly- just yellow flowers on bare branches- but its a sign of the coming spring to me, and the leaves are such a pretty bright green

  • jkw7aj
    19 years ago

    I really, really like one of our natives that spreads like wildfire ... the Western Starflower. It's an amazingly simple and gorgeous little woodland plant that no one else seems to have a use for.

  • euka
    19 years ago

    milkweed.. smells heavenly, I love it even though it is a noxious weed around here

  • manifest
    19 years ago

    I really love honeysuckle, even though for some parts of the country, it is invasive. Nothing like the smell of honeysuckle to send me away on cloud 9...

  • Susiebelle
    19 years ago

    I love honeysuckle too. And orange daylilies (ditchlilies)

    Susie

  • jiggreen
    19 years ago

    i must say i have a norway maple, and i love it..of course it's still young..and it hasnt started with the whirligig pods, and i'm sure one day i'll hate it. but, it was here when we moved in a year and a half ago, and i never got rid of it..i actually didn't even know what it was at first! it sort of looked like a cross between a maple tree and a shrub! i love the thick foliage and the nice shaded area it provides in an almost otherwise shadeless yard.

    another one of my "i love it but you probably hate it" favorites is my chokecherry tree. it is growing too close to my house, and was probably just a gift from the birds, but i'll never complain...it shades my bedroom window during the day and at night i can get undressed without having to put my shade down! :-) i live at the edge of a wooded area, and nature is more powerful than me, so instead of fighting the invasives..i welcome them!

  • babanna
    19 years ago

    my neighbor loves....bindweed! She actually keeps the seeds and says it looks great on her porch posts! Says she can't grow anything so what did grow she kept! I have to admit it did look nice growing up her porch last summer.....
    me ...I hate bindweed! But I love those nasty thistle weeds ....they are beautiful in bloom and sometimes I collect them for dried flower wreaths and swags.....so to each his/her own I guess! Thanks for the thread.

  • MeMyselfAndI
    19 years ago

    For the life of me, I can't understand how people can be bothered by the tiny flowers that will grow in a mowed lawn. The johnny jump-ups, veronicas, star-of-bethlehem, creeping charlie, clovers, etc... I can remember looking for flowers at recess with my friends. They're so pretty and as soft as the grass. If it's green and not prickly, it's welcome to grow where I mow.

  • bruggirl
    19 years ago

    I love oxalis, and elderberries, both of them invasive. I also love native hibiscus, even though I have hundreds coming up in my lawn every year.

  • dawnstorm
    19 years ago

    I too like honeysuckle--a few years ago, I took a cutting from a nearby woodsy area and it now grow on my backyard fence. I had to prune it this year and it really looks neat and trimmed. I figure that I was bringing an invasive plant in my yard and it was my responsibility to keep it under control. I also like ditch lilies, as do a lot of people around here, judging from their yards.

  • loniesmom
    19 years ago

    fyi bruggirl, native hibiscus is known as rose of sharon around here. I have to say my favorite plant that everyone (who knows better ought to) hate(s) is houttentoyia (sp?)AKA chameleon plant. I wanted something that would hold its own in amongst a thick patch of "native" daylilies and it looks marvelous! If I hadn't known its incredible invasiveness to begin with and planted it in the well behaved part of my garden, I would have been extremely upset; it's no surprise to me that it's considered a noxious weed here.

  • bfroberts
    19 years ago

    I really hate Mimosa but a friend of mine allowed a volunteer to grow beside his pond and it is absolutely beautiful....about 5' high right now, leans ever so slightly at just the right angle, fans out over the pond, looks just a wee bit tropical at water's edge, creates a wonderful reflection....I looked at it maybe a bit longingly and my husband said, "Don't even THINK about it!"

  • tracey_nj6
    19 years ago

    I LOVE the wild violets in the lawn. DH hates them; it makes him crazy. We have alot in the far back end of the yard. When it blooms, it looks lovely from the deck; he looks and curses it.

    I also love the white clover in the lawn; another one that DH has issues with.

    I also love morning glories; I can't get them to reseed for me for the life of me.

  • beigestonehill
    19 years ago

    I too love dandelions for the same reason the other Lynn does it is those chubby hands and the hate of perfect lawns that make them so much fun. After a long winter my eyes want bright colors and Dlions give me that. Plus who can resist blowing their seeds and making a wish? I also leave a big patch of Honeysuckle, Rosa Multiflora and blackberry bramble, the first two for the smell the third for the eating. I think it is easier to enjoy invasive weeds if you have enough land to let them ramble freely.
    Lynn,

  • peggy1155
    19 years ago

    I like dandelions too, very bright yellow faces covering my lawn, mixed in with the wild violets. I also love Johnny-jump-ups, they are everywhere in my beds always happy to fill in if there is a bare spot. Another one is Creeping Charlie, it has kept itself to the backyard for years and years never entered the side yards or front yard, little blue flowers in the Spring and what a great ground cover! In the heat of the summer when everyone's lawns are turning brown, there is the bright green Creeping Charlie looking as fresh as ever. Also Obedient Plant, I actually water and feed my Obedient plants. Another weed I love Day Flower, it fills in empty spaces, has pretty blue flowers and is easy to pull out if you need the space.

    But I'm with Al on hating the Norway Maple seedlings 10,000 times each summer. Ditto on the Rose-of-Sharon seedlings!!

  • luvmyducks
    19 years ago

    I LOVE mimosa! The fuzzy pink flowers look like something out of Dr. Seuss - and the butterflies love them! Can't grow them in Maine - I just admire them when I visit my folks in Kentucky.
    I like dandelions, devil's paintbrush, goldenrod, violets, bluets, milkweed. I have a huge patch of milkweed that I leave to host Monarch butterflies. Any blooming weed steals my heart! I call them wildflowers....
    I also like houttuynia. Just have to plant it in the right place.

  • Phyllis_Leathers
    19 years ago

    Ok, you might think I have a screw loose, but I can't stand petunias, geraniums, marigolds etc. They are SO BORING to me! Too short for my tastes, something I see local restaurants/banks plant every few inches apart in rows, with lots of mulch inbetween. I love the cottage gardening style, with lots of variety in heights, colors, textures.
    :0) Phyl

  • Kathy46
    19 years ago

    I know it's non native but I love my pinl/white spirea. I don't feel guilty 'cause I didn't plant them. They came with the house.

  • booberry85
    19 years ago

    Hi! I can't stand Virginia Creepers or Goldenrod! I'm allergic to both. I can't believe places are selling these as perrenials. On the other hand, I love little violets, periwinkles and Johnny-jump-ups.

  • muddy_paws
    19 years ago

    My favorite hated plants are yellow oxalis, and bindweed.

  • sugarhill
    19 years ago

    Accolady, you're right. You take the cake if you like kudzu. I can't imagine it failed when you planted it (which might be illegal). You probably forgot to mulch it with concrete (at least 3 inches) and fertilize it with motor oil. Better luck next time.

  • Sally_D
    19 years ago

    I curse my neighbor who decided to plant mint on the other side of our fence. It is out of control. I am now resorting to using Roundup on it and hope it kills mine and hers.

  • Heathen1
    19 years ago

    I like oxalis...I mow around it in my yard so that I get a huge wave of yellow flowers in the springtime. But I HATE vinca major! EEEEEEK!

  • roselin
    19 years ago

    I'm a dandelion lover too. Last year they grew along our driveway in front of the fairy roses and looked so bright and cheerful. My husband would mow them down and in a few days they would be back blooming brighter than ever. This year we had a dry srping and they didn't reseed so well and so I was left with wild pancium grass and my most hated grass, crabgrass. Another of my favorites is the mimosa tree. Here where I live they grow like weeds, and everyone hates them, but how can you hate a trees that has such pretty flowers, invites hummingbirds and butterflies and such a strong survivial instinct. I have 8 acres and wish they would volunteer everywhere. Ditchlilies are another favorite and even mint if it's not in your flowerbeds. In fact anything that grows like a weed and doesn't need to be babied is fine by me. I'll take a pretty weed over bare dirt anyday.

  • aleduc
    18 years ago

    You can eat dandelion's too!

    http://www.sunriseherbfarm.com/recipes/dandeliondishes.html

    Here is a link that might be useful: Dandelion Recipes

  • Eliza_ann_ca
    18 years ago

    I love sweet clover.I grew up where there were fields of it and around here it covers the sides of the roadsides in summer.the smell is intoxicating.I would love to grow it if I had room in my small garden.I also love goldenrod,have a patch of it out back and its so showey in late summer.

  • leidie
    18 years ago

    English ivy. A strand hitchhiked its way into my garden a few years back, via a new Tiffan Blue Spruce tree. Now, I'm waging a constant war with it. It pops up everywhere, and has managed to mix more than once into the Boston Ivy that covers my house.

    Like one of those awful horror movies, where you figure the bad guy is dead, and then ....tadahhhhh....he's baaaack.

  • Katrinawitch
    18 years ago

    I have a love/hate relationship with the vinca/periwinkle that seems to be taking over my driveway border bed. On one hand, it's very attractive and compact, and has those gorgeous little blue flowers, but on the other hand, it spreads so fast, I can almost see it! It's taking over the bed, and doesn't show any signs of stopping.

  • mowdy
    18 years ago

    I could do without Bishop's weed.

  • janroze
    18 years ago

    I love the fragrance of petunias in the evening even tho they are looked upon with disdain, cuz they are so commonly grown here.
    jan

  • EvesApple
    18 years ago

    I love just about every weed in the yard - it hadn't been taken care of in years before we moved in, so there are lots. The clover and dandelions attract bees and the violets are just pretty...but my favorite is the plantain. Most people just know it as another broadleaf weed but I don't know what I'd do without it. Crush it up and put it on skeeter bites and bee stings and ahhhh...instant relief. You can't tell it's not grass unless you're standing in my yard, anyway. :P

  • ljrmiller
    18 years ago

    I really can't say I particularly HATE any plant--unless I'm weeding it because my neighbors can't be bothered to mow, much less pull their weeds. I pull a LOT of annual grass out of my flower beds, a lot of prickly lettuce, a lot of spurge, a few milkweeds, and I think I FINALLY have a handle on the scorzonera/salsify. I'm also not too whippy on elm seedlings because there are just SO MANY!

  • waterlover_2007
    16 years ago

    I hate Privet! My neighbors have 3 on their side of the fence. Thave a choking smell that my husband is alergic too. and they drop flowers and a small round seed onto our 5th wheel roof that looks like rat t**ds. We are building a pool and I realize I am going to be fighting this tall 20 feet hedge. Is there a way to spray and prevent the Privet from blooming or seeding?

  • cypresslady
    16 years ago

    I love the cypress vine! Most people hate the vine but I planted it from seed and coaxed it where I wanted it. To step outside and count up to 15 bright yellow butterflies and up to 10 hummingbirds covering the red flowers each morning is worth the work.

  • hdladyblu_2007
    16 years ago

    morning glories.they are awesome.

  • flowrgirl1
    16 years ago

    I just gotta say I am apparently oblivious to what others hate. I did not know that people hated honysuckle, morning glories, forsythia and more. I just moved to the south from MI and as far as i knew those plants were all loved. Guess im sheltered. I love all three.

  • clumsygrdner
    16 years ago

    I love LOVE LOVE Forsythia! Even though everyone says it's the ugliest hedge plant ever. :( Poor Forsythia.

  • grinchis40
    15 years ago

    Well, to add to this post 1 year later, my husband and I both love our silver maple tree. It dosn't reseed in our yard (we do mow after all) or lose anything major in storm. We've lost more significant limbs from our oak tree. We even planted another in our front yard.

    Also love my varigated privets. Love my spireas. So lovely in spring and love the delicate foliage the rest of the year.

    Chinese tallow. Love them so far.

    I guess if its growing, whats not to like. With one exception. Asian jasmine! I wish mine were DEAD!!!

  • dwf1
    15 years ago

    I dislike big green weed-less chemical laden St. Augustine yards.

  • cjpunkz
    15 years ago

    well i love a lot of garden plants, what I really hate are the weeds that grow around them. but i don't like flowering plants that grow high, so I would say rhododendrons..

    Here is a link that might be useful: Garten Pavillon

  • greenwood85
    15 years ago

    I also think pokeweed is beautiful. I also like dandelions, honeysuckle, milkweed, and morning glories.

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I've been amused that this thread is still here and the different interpretations of the topic.
    I like Bradford pears, variegated privet and Japanese honeysuckle, and am fully aware of all their inherent problems - and how much most gardeners despise them.

  • seedeater
    15 years ago

    CANADIAN THISTLES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • mortswife97630
    15 years ago

    I'm with you on Canadian Thistle, Seedeater!! I had to hoe bazillions of them when I was a kid on the farm.

  • lilion
    15 years ago

    I love this thread! I am also a wild violet lover. I think they are beautiful. I remember as a child laying under my mom's forsythia bushes (which I do hate) and looking at the pretty violets that grew under them in the shade. I also love English Ivy and intentionally planted it around my oak tree. In my zone, you CAN keep it under control, but it takes work and I'm lazy. So this year it's going to take an extension ladder to get it trimmed back down to a reasonable height on the tree. That's what I get for loving an invasive weed, huh?

  • adahlberg
    15 years ago

    I LOVE mimosas. Everyone curses them but they bring hummingbirds they're pink and smell good. Beautiful!
    Oh yes, orange crocosmia. They grow like weeds here and people despise them. They spread like crazy and you CANNOT kill them-not even with gas! However, hummingbirds love them and they are bright and pretty. Bugs don't even bother them.

  • socks
    15 years ago

    Jade, I don't care for jade. Also spider plants.

  • virakech
    15 years ago

    hate yews, rose of sharon - unless pruned like a tree, burning bush, yucca, most sedum, many ornamental grasses,

    love english ivy if grown in a pot for topiary, love morning glory (not milkweed), love periwinkle,

  • woodside
    14 years ago

    Love these plants! Know they can be obnoxiousÂ

    Just about any vine- wisteria, wild grape, trumpetÂ.
    Lots of roadside weeds growing among roadkill, cigarette butts and glass- especially chicoryÂ
    Ditch lilies
    Rose of Sharon
    Wild false strawberry
    Obedient plant
    Yucca

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