Your plant nemesis

[bridgetmkennitt]

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?

Comments

[malnpudl]

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

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

Oddly enough, coneflower. (and shasta daisy, but really, that's less odd than coneflower.)

[3rdragon]

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.)

[daidoji_gisei]

French tarragon. I love it, but it will not grow for me. Maybe it hates clay soils? I'm baffled.

[ladybrooke]

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]

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]

I've killed mint. Worse, I've repeatedly killed mint, both in multiple gardens and on multiple attempts in the same garden.

[liana]

Alliums. Doesn't matter if they're ornamental or edible. I follow all the instructions and advice, and they just fail.

[mmegaera]

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.

[onyxlynx]

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.

[nanila]

Basil. Always, always, basil. ARGH

[willidan]

Roses. I have tried and tried to grow roses. Fertilize them, plant them in different areas, pamper them, ignore them. Nothing. I've nearly killed the old rose bush that have been growing in my hard from before I moved in.

[sleepyfairy]

Gotta be corn. You'd think that with how common corn is in Ontario and how well it supposedly grows, corn would flourish here but I plant some year after year and get maybe one or two dinky little cobs. I don't really know what I'm doing wrong.

My mom, on the other hand, somehow managed to kill bamboo.

[zesty_pinto]

I think I've mentioned this before, but mint. Good god, mint. Everyone says the stuff is indestructible and if that's true then I must be the shikigami of mint because it never seems to thrive longer than a month under my watch.

[touchturnfly]

Hi, I'm very new here and glad to have found this community!

My current adversary: bitter gourd. I made various attempts last year and none of the seeds would germinate. This year I tried out my last seeds in the package. Didn't work either. I ragequit and threw the seeds in a bucket outside.

After watching a very helpful youtube video I realized I had been doing things all wrong. I recovered seeds from bucket. But still, nothing. Either the seeds are too old... or they didn't survive the nights outside. I'm afraid I'll have to buy new seeds. D: