bridgetmkennitt: (Chocolate Sprinkled Cupcake)
Bridget McKennitt ([personal profile] bridgetmkennitt) wrote in [community profile] gardening2017-04-20 04:04 pm

Your plant nemesis

We all have at least one. It's that plant that you try to grow and grow, but for some reason or another, it just dies or doesn't bloom or doesn't grow any vegetables.

What plant do you consider your nemesis?
malnpudl: (Default)

[personal profile] malnpudl 2017-04-21 12:06 am (UTC)(link)
I have to open this with the obvious: Himalayan Blue Poppy (meconopsis betonicifolia)

When I lived in the eastern -- which is to say hotter and drier -- part of the San Francisco Bay area, I tried and failed three times to grow this. Because I never give up on anything until I've killed it three times. (That's a thing for most gardeners, right? The three-times thing?)

Now I live up in the NW corner of California, only about 10 miles inland from the coast and on a bluff over a river valley. Which is to say, I'm now in the right climate to grow my nemesis... except that pretty much all I have is full sun. I'm still going to try it again one of these days. Because now I get three more tries, right? :-D
Edited 2017-04-21 00:09 (UTC)
peoriapeoriawhereart: very British officer in sweater (Brigader gets the job done)

[personal profile] peoriapeoriawhereart 2017-04-21 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
Oddly enough, coneflower. (and shasta daisy, but really, that's less odd than coneflower.)
ravena_kade: (Default)

[personal profile] ravena_kade 2017-04-21 12:19 am (UTC)(link)
Coneflower. For some reason something usually eats it totally or birds cut the flowers off. The black eyed susan form can almost be considered a weed, but something kills it in my yard. If it does survive the season it dies over the winter. I have no idea why.
3rdragon: (Default)

[personal profile] 3rdragon 2017-04-21 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
Radishes. Everyone says "They're easy! Grow them with your kids!" and sometimes they don't sprout, and sometimes they sprout but don't radish, or occasionally they do radish but only very small bitter rocks with worm holes in them. This year we gave up on watermelon radishes and are going for something with a short time to maturity, and they've sprouted and are making true leaves, at least. So we'll see.

(Hi, I'm Miriam, and I'm new here.)
Edited 2017-04-21 00:28 (UTC)
daidoji_gisei: (Cooking)

[personal profile] daidoji_gisei 2017-04-21 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
French tarragon. I love it, but it will not grow for me. Maybe it hates clay soils? I'm baffled.
ladybrooke: (Default)

[personal profile] ladybrooke 2017-04-21 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
Hydrangeas. I have tried everything - sun! shade! Growing it in a pot so that I can move it around into the perfect about of sun every day regardless of what the weather is, even if that means moving it under an umbrella.

They won't grow. Every other flower, no matter how picky, that I've wanted I've managed to grow. These won't, and it's upsetting.
loligo: Scully with blue glasses (Default)

[personal profile] loligo 2017-04-21 02:12 am (UTC)(link)
Despite all the jokes about the amazing profligacy of zucchini, I have never gotten more than one or two squash off of a plant, and I have finally given up. (But I've never had a true "full sun" spot to plant them in, either.)
gchick: Small furry animal wearing a tin-foil hat (Default)

[personal profile] gchick 2017-04-21 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
I've killed mint. Worse, I've repeatedly killed mint, both in multiple gardens and on multiple attempts in the same garden.
theora: the center of a dark purple tulip (Default)

[personal profile] theora 2017-04-21 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
Yes! I also fail at radishes. Mostly they don't bulb up, but I am also acquainted with the "very small bitter rocks with worm holes in them" you describe. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. But I've given up and now grow salad turnips (Hakurei is the variety I like), which do work reliably and taste nicer too. They do take about a week or two longer than radishes, however. 35 days.
theora: the center of a dark purple tulip (Default)

[personal profile] theora 2017-04-21 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
Data point: it grows like gangbusters for me in dry, sandy, rocky, infertile soil that's pretty much the opposite of clay. So it could be a soil thing.
liana: Teaberry plant in snow (Default)

[personal profile] liana 2017-04-21 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
Alliums. Doesn't matter if they're ornamental or edible. I follow all the instructions and advice, and they just fail.
mmegaera: (Default)

[personal profile] mmegaera 2017-04-21 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
That is seriously impressive of you.
mmegaera: (Default)

[personal profile] mmegaera 2017-04-21 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
I am ashamed to admit that mine is daffodils. They'll bloom for one season and then *poof* they're gone.

The real irony here is that I live in a region (near Seattle) where they're grown commercially, and where they've randomly naturalized themselves along the freeways.
ladybrooke: (Default)

[personal profile] ladybrooke 2017-04-21 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
Zucchini honestly do need the full sun spot to grow, so blame that. We have fifteen acres, and our most successful zucchini patch was when we planted it in the exact middle of a cleared area with no nearby trees, buildings, etc. Nothing that could provide shade anywhere near.
onyxlynx: 5 purple crocus in a NJ spring (Crocus 2006)

[personal profile] onyxlynx 2017-04-21 05:59 am (UTC)(link)
Delphiniums, perennial alyssum (the annual plants were just fine), petunias after the first time. The hollyhocks/larkspur actually came up, but the following year they were mowed (don't ask). Peonies have been installed and they may survive.

But delphiniums never grew.
malnpudl: (Default)

[personal profile] malnpudl 2017-04-21 06:35 am (UTC)(link)
It really is.
nanila: (Bush Fire Hazard)

[personal profile] nanila 2017-04-21 09:03 am (UTC)(link)
Basil. Always, always, basil. ARGH

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