What grows best for you?

Dandelions.

I have trouble with snowdrops too, I have a planted loads on either side of my magnolia but one side never grows yet the other flourishes. I was told snowdrops like poor soil.

Cosmos, gladioli, columbine, roses & most especially, hibiscus & hydrangeas grow well here. Lily-of-the-valley, sweet-peas & delphiniums sadly don't.

Chillies.

I'm still trying to use up last year's!

I think the little black slugs got some of the herbaceous perennials.

MaizieD

Callistemon21

I've lost lupins, delphiniums, hollyhocks, helenium, but wild strawberries and oregano are everywhere, in the lawn, the garden beds, cracks in the pavers.

Are you me, Callistemon?

(mind you, I blame the slugs for the loss of most of those)

I have forget me nots bent on world domination, too.

I collected the wild strawberries, planted them in tubs but the fruits weren't great so I pull them up now.

Still they appear. The oregano gets mown with the lawn.

Forgetmenots got in amongst the proper strawberries!

Borage, phacelia and salvia as our soil is very sandy in full sunlight. Going to try and grow soapwort this summer.

Our bay is probably 40ft+ now. I think it's female. It's at least 30 years old.

We have a bay tree at our house share in France. It was about 6ft high 30 years ago. Left unchecked it's now a very substantial tree and must be about 30ft high.

It doesn't grow at all well for me up here in Co. Durham, though.

Callistemon21

I've lost lupins, delphiniums, hollyhocks, helenium, but wild strawberries and oregano are everywhere, in the lawn, the garden beds, cracks in the pavers.

Are you me, Callistemon?

(mind you, I blame the slugs for the loss of most of those)

I have forget me nots bent on world domination, too.

Thanks Patsy
It all looks rather a mess out there!

Our bay tree was supposed to be in a pot and topiarised (is that a word?) but we planted it in the garden, it is enormous but pruned each year to keep it under control.

My bay tree is growing well. It's enormous!

I will chop down the Penstemons and other perennials.at the end of March Callistemon21, when hopefully the weather warms up. I do hope they survive. 🤞

Patsy70

Hellebores, Roses, Clematis, Snowdrops, Daffodils, herbaceous Geraniums, Fuchsias, Cornus, Hibiscus are some that do particularly well.
I’m hoping the Trachelospermum Jasminoides, Salvia and Penstemon recover, as they’re looking very sad at the moment. We need sunshine and warmth! Winter is soooo long! 😔

Do you chop down the penstemons?
Is March the best time?

Some of mine do well, the more unusual types seem to disappear. I had a lovely one called Apple Blossom but it had disappeared last year.

Salvias love my clay soil here, and so do cornflowers. I have borage everywhere and fennel. I love it - reminds me of family holidays on Guernsey when our children were very young.

I have tried to grow lily-of-the-valley in every garden I have had but just cannot get it to be happy. I have bought it from garden centres as well as taken plants from MiL's and various friends' gardens, some local, some distant and now just have to accept that their easy-to-grow almost weed is my nemesis.

MrsKen I love the flowering stick!

We have sandy soil. Camellias grow well as do hydrangeas. Rhododendron not so well. I have lupins,red hot pokers, nerines and achillea in the front garden and they seem to tolerate the salty air. Agapanthus also but we have a lot of tiny snails who love it. It ends up like lace. My greatest triumph is a tree peony which we found in the shrubbery masquerading as a stick. It has the most beautiful primrose coloured flowers.

Hellebores, Roses, Clematis, Snowdrops, Daffodils, herbaceous Geraniums, Fuchsias, Cornus, Hibiscus are some that do particularly well.
I’m hoping the Trachelospermum Jasminoides, Salvia and Penstemon recover, as they’re looking very sad at the moment. We need sunshine and warmth! Winter is soooo long! 😔

Never able to grow lupins, or salvias. Plant and they disappear 😩
Plus cold and wet this winter has killed off phormiums and yucca, both at least 6 years old. 😭

A couple of years ago I potted and nurtured some Dahlias tubers indoors. I put them on the patio to start hardening off and the next day they had been eaten down to the stem by slugs/snails. I shall not be bothering again!

things I can't grow, lupins

hot lips salvia, it goes mad!

I can grow roses, snowdrops, muscari, heucheras, most bulbs but dahlias do sod all, sweetpeas refuse to grow and I can grow runner beans but not broad beans.
Gardening is a lottery isn’t it?

Us gardeners expect plants to grow because we like them but soil type, climate, sun or shade are the factors that decide their fate. How many of us see a plant for sale in full bloom, grab it and then wander round the garden looking for a space? I have done it more times than I can tell. Yes I know I should do my research before I buy and read the labels carefully but I seldom do. My garden is very dry so can grow sages and rosemary with ease. At the moment my patch is a blaze of white from the hundreds of snowdrops. They seed all over the place and I dig them up when working on the beds and now they are everywhere. At the moment they are fighting with the foliage of the too many wild tulips which are lovely for a day when they bloom but then vanish. I have planted so many clematis but few survive for more than a couple of years. The four Princess Diana, a prolific beautiful pink variety, have vanished without trace despite following all the planting rules, it just does not like me but loves my friend a few doors away!

Another one here who fails with snowdrops and yet if we drive a short distance, there are millions of them under the hedges.
Maybe Granmabatty is correct and the squirrels are getting them.

I’m good with ornamental gourds, I keep my family and myself supplied with bowlfuls for autumn displays. I’m good with dahlias too, although I lift mine each autumn as it’s too cold and wet here to leave them in the ground over winter.
I’m rubbish with ranunculus, it’s a one season wonder only for me, so I’ve given up. I’m also unable to grow Hellebores, they don’t like it in my garden at all, which saddens me, I’ve tried pots too, but no luck.