"Impossible" Plants

[Deleted]

There are certain plants that I have reconciled myself to as "impossible" for me to grow. Nothing to do with growing conditions,have provided everything the particular plant requires in terms of light,moisture,locations,drainage...
Every few years will give some another go. Still can't grow.
Almost every gardener I know is familiar with this phenomenon.
Here is my list of "impossible" for me to grow plants:

lemon verbena (the longest I have been able to keep one alive is about 6 mos.)
gaura (this one drives me particularly crazy as one house away there is a specimen that is happy and healthy,blooming it's fool head off. Maddening!)
Australian Tree Fern(costly plants that I lust for.Have also seen healthy,happy specimens nearby)
I know there are others that I can't recall right now or I am blocking out because it is a shameful admission for me to reveal.

[Deleted]

this is gaura,

[bixaorellana]

I guess it wouldn't be helpful to mention that gaura almost became a pest in my yard in Louisiana. ;D

The biggest, most glaring and perpetual failure for me is bronze fennel. I love it, it hates me.

[bazfaz]

Gaura grew like a weed in the garden of our old house. It was rampant, smothering other plants, seeding itself everywhere, making paths almost impassable. I don't know how it will do in our new garden.

One plant that never did well were ordinary geraniums, the ones that everyone else grows wonderfully well in pots. The previous owners of this house left half a dozen healthy specimens. I wonder how long it will be before they pine and fade away.

[Deleted]

They may require cat pee to thrive.

[bazfaz]

We shall train guests to replace the cat.

[Deleted]

Another one I thought of as I walked past someone's lovely garden today and saw a beautiful specimen of is the acanthus.Classic foliage.



But no,mine rot.

I hate this thread. Why am I torturing myself with sharing this?

[bazfaz]

Casi, that is a real achievement - gettiing acanthus to rot. Once established they are virtually impossible get rid of. They regenerate from a small piece of root.

[Deleted]

Nov 10, 2009 8:49:36 GMT bazfaz said:

Casi, that is a real achievement - gettiing acanthus to rot. Once established they are virtually impossible get rid of. They regenerate from a small piece of root.

thank you baz. This is my S&M garden thread.Bring it on!

[spindrift]

I can't get clematis to grow enthusiastically in my city garden. I conclude it's something to do with the ph of the soil. Must be. Or it might be revenge. When I moved into the house most of the back of it was deeply covered with an old clematis montana which completely blocked out the light up to the third floor. Because of it my surveyor missed the fact that the tiled roof, beams, windows and bricks had rotted beneath its rampant growth. Over weeks I toiled to cut it down and cart it away to the dump only to reveal the damage which cost me £11,000 to put right. Clematis plants must detest me.

[Deleted]

A clear cut case of "Clematis Karma"