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myrtleoak

Poll (just for fun)

myrtleoak
16 years ago

Name your least favorite shrub/tree and the shrub/tree that you feel is most underrated.

Least favorite: Burning Bush

Underrated: Carolina Laurelcherry

Comments (16)

  • kathy003
    16 years ago

    Least favorite: It is a tie, Tree of Heaven... Paper Mulberry.

    Most favorite: A thorny thing I disliked when I first moved here. Grows like a teenage boy... so I have to cut it back a lot. But it went through the freeze like a champ. Every year, including this one, it gives pollinators something to do when nothing else is blooming. It has orange berries. Why has it's name escaped me this morning?

  • atwork
    16 years ago

    least favorite: Bradford Pear
    Underrated: Too many to list. A common one I like that many people don't is Mimosa. It's pretty, easy to grow, and isn't invasive enough to bother me.

  • cannahavana
    16 years ago

    least favorite: BRADFORD PEAR. They should be on the envasive list. We can't get rid of ours even after cutting down and grinding the stump. Plus, they stink like a dirty toilet when they bloom.

    underated: Trachycarpus fortuneii. I love our palms! When everything melted in the freeze, they were growing completely unaffected!

    Rebecca

  • intimidator_3
    16 years ago

    Ditto to Canna(notice the sucking up to the wife?)

    Bradfords, evergreen azaleas=BOOOOOO!

    Calycanthus=YEAAAAAA!

    Doug
    I3

  • myrtleoak
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Cathy, I think you may be talking about a pyracantha (sp?).

  • katiedidcottage
    16 years ago

    Least favorite: I agree -- Bradford Pear

    Most favorite:

    Muscadines - I got enough the second year to make bunches of jelly. It looks like this year I'll have at least 10 times what I had last year.

    Lady Banks Roses - I got several of these in white, yellow and purple (which actually looks more pink). They grow quickly and make a nice screen on my chain link fence. They bloom for a couple of weeks in the spring and are covered in blooms.

    Katie

  • eaglebug
    16 years ago

    Least favorite: Bradford Pear - they're rarely trimmed correctly and end up looking stupid from breakage. They are okay to look at in a group from a distance, but I can't help but think about how they'll eventually have wind damage and will look pitiful.

    Underrated: Euonymous - We're making a hedge from ours and it's been fun to watch it go through all the different stages of growth. Right now it's got long, floppy stems.

  • kathy003
    16 years ago

    Yes, myrtleoak, pyracantha...it is a cotoneaster, right?

  • myrtleoak
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Not sure. All I know is that it is a southern European native.

  • kathy003
    16 years ago

    myrtleoak...

    I am back to calling it a pyracantha. I found a cultivar in a book (no pix) that mentions orange berries and upright growth to about 15 feet. That sounds like my baby.

  • myrtleoak
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I think they are sometimes underappreciated also (pyracantha, that is).

  • madmouser
    16 years ago

    Pyracantha and Cotoneaster are different. W3e had both of them when I was growing up in California.
    The Pyracantha had dark green glossy leaves with lots of red berries. And nasty, nasty thorns. It's called Firethorn for a reason. You see it espaliered a lot on the west coast.
    Definietly one of my least favorite plants.
    The Cotoneaster was a big bush with arshing branches. The leaves were a fuzzy grey and the berries were darker, more a burgundy. No thorns. Birds were quite fond of both of them.

    Here is a link that might be useful: cotoneaster photos

  • lisaluvsbassetts
    16 years ago

    I hate butterfly bush. Gets to big and ugly.
    Magnolias are my favorite. I wish I had 100's on my property.

  • ladybug1
    16 years ago

    My least favorite? Hmmm. Privet hands down because it is invasive if you give it the least opportunity. One of those give it an inch and it takes a mile species. I'm not fond of mimosa for the same reason, but don't hate it quite as bad.

    My favorite bush would probably be camellia because I don't have any luck with it here. I had huge beautiful bushes where I grew up, but have never been able to get my soil right here. Azaleas too. They are so pretty in bloom, but I can't grow them worth a hang either.

  • myrtleoak
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Also thumbs down: tree of heaven, hostas (sorry), Japanese barberry (boring...fringeflower fills this red shrub niche much better), butterfly bush(always looks messy to me), prostrate ground cover juniper (ughh!).

    Also thumbs up: red tip photina, deodar cedar, waxmyrtle (should be more available), fringetree (nice native).

  • wildpiglet
    16 years ago

    I am new to Nashville from Southern California.

    I am sorry but I like the butterfly bush. I planted two as soon as we moved here.

    I think the Flame Bush is way over used. Got rid of them right away.

    I did not like the monkey grass when I got here, but starting to like it.

    Beth in Antioch

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