Dilemma!

GreenGran you beat me to it!

I was just going to ask how your DH coped with a dog in his precious garden for three months, grannyrebel!

The plants should survive fine in pots, do give them a try, it would be awfully hurtful to your sister to give them away.

My sis-in-law gave us a Prunus Kojou-No-Mai for our golden wedding. The wretched thing has been nothing but trouble

It spent the first year sulking, the second year making a bit more effort to grow but this year it has decided the late frosts, lack of rain and now high winds might as well send it into an early autumn.

I've had enough of it but she keeps threatening to visit after Lockdown. I fear she won't be impressed

Not an answer for your problem, but hope after reading this post, that we all think twice about buying, as a thank you gift, plants (or household ornaments) just because we'd like them for ourselves.

annifrance

First dilemma is your husband. How very mean spirited he is being and inconsiderate to you. He therefore deserves no consideration.

Second dilemma, solved. Put them in pots and enjoy them. Then tell husband to get over himself.

Yes, annifrance, I totally agree with you! What a mean old so and so the OH sounds.

Accept a gift in spirit with which it is given!

I feel you should definitely keep them , in pots initially. When they get too big you can make decisions with each as you need to. In the meantime your sister will see you take some pleasure from them. This way she is unlikely to notice later on if you have to pass them on when they are too big to keep.

I'm going for the pots option. I've never taken much interest in the garden so DH regards it as his domain.

As your husband is so precious about ‘his’ garden, I am surprised that he permitted you to accommodate the dog for 3 months! Was it allowed anywhere near the sacred plants?

I would definitely put the shrubs in containers. Almost anything will survive in them, with a little TLC. It was a kind, if misguided, thank-you gift from your sister.

I had a potted hydrangea, for years, which a friend had given to me. Eventually it needed to be planted in the soil, but I didn’t have room for it. I gifted it back to its original donor, who has a larger garden. We admire ‘our’ hydrangea each year, when it flowers.

“If hubby will allow”? I hope that was an ironic comment!

Plant them in your largest pots.Water and feed, prune, should they become to large.

Yes, put them in large pots. They either survive or die.

I'm on clay soil here so I grow both of these types of plants in big pots, as they like acid soil. You can keep the size to what is suitable for you by careful pruning, and maybe one day you'll have a space in the garden to plant one or all of them.
I never refuse a gift of plants even if it is something I would not have chosen myself, and have often been pleasantly surprised.

Oh I have to disagree, Paperbackwriter - Pieris have lovely bright red tips on the new leaves, and the white trailing blossoms are really attractive. ?

I would put them in pots,

DH is very particular about what gets planted in the garden.

I think it's time you lived up to your name grannyrebel and rebelled against your DH. After all it is your garden as well. If you want to keep them, then you keep them.

Forgot to mention - use ericaceous compost.

Camellias do brilliantly in big pots and are the most welcome splash of colour early in the year - you won't regret keeping those but remember to use ericaceous compost. Pierris is pretty dull stuff - I might accidentally lose that one!

As others have said, both these plants can grow quite happily in pots. I've grown both in pots in the past.

What a lovely sister you have! your DH on the other hand!!

Tell her theyre lovely but you only have room for one.tell her you'd love it if she and you both had the matching pair (in pots) but could you donate the third to hospice, as a thank you to NHS workers? Im sure she'd love to do that.

I have grown both Pieris & Camelias in large pots on a sunny patio & they did very well for many years until we moved & then I put them in the garden & they are still going strong.

I think everyone’s pretty right here. just tell your husband not to be silly.

Your sister has obviously given it some thought and coming to the conclusion you love your garden and can see them grow and flourish over the years. I’d be very hurt if you gave them away. I agree with suggestions of putting them in pots in the front garden and keeping them trimmed. I don’t understand why your husband has the monopoly on the garden surely he has it in him to realise she meant well and to give them back to her is mean spirited.

We have pieris in pots, they do much better than in our garden soil.
The camellia was in a pot but is now in the ground and gets top dressed with ericaceous compost occasionally. However, a friend has a wonderful one in a large pot near her front door and it does much better than mine.

Having poor chalky soil I have grown plants that like acid soil like camellias in pots of ericatious soil very successfully. If you do not wish them to become too big restrict the size of pot. I have a 35 year old Bay tree which is less than three feet high in a pot. However it does need a lot of watering.