For me it's groundcovers and foliage plants, like sedums, creeping thyme, Solomon's Seal, G. macchorizum, and Lady's Mantle. I used to find them boring compared to bright flowers, but now I love them.

instead of those foo foo ones that need all that TLC ... lol

i will mull it over.. but i cant.. offhand.. come up with a boring plant ... hmmmmm .. there are definitely things i dont like.. but they arent boring... lol ...

ken

So now I'm curious: what plants do you dislike, after years of gardening?

Gazania. I used to like them, but then got bored seeing them everywhere. When we suddenly yanked the concrete out of the street strip, I needed something drought tolerant that could take a full day of summer heat and survive occasional feet. And, finally!, Lowes was selling single colors in 6-packs. A nice maroonish-colored group for $2 per six made a nice, inexpensive filler with some variegated agapanthus.

How about a companion thread about plants that have great features to offer, but you inexplicably can't stand them anyway? lol I have a few of those, too.

Gyr Falcon: HAHA I'm going to have to say the absolute first thing that pops into my head about can't stand them anyway is DAYLILY!

I'll second the cone flowers (daisies too). Love them now!

It wasn't so much that I thought 'meh' when I saw these. I just hadn't figured out my preferred 'look' until after I started actually planning & planting my garden beds. When I finally began to picture in my head what made me smile as I went walkabout the garden, it finally hit me that I liked what I'd created completely without conscious thought until I saw the final result. So it was probably more guesswork than design but I'm happy with how it turned out no matter what steps I took to get here. I believe the word for that is serendipity.

'GF', you should give the Proven Winners Supertunias a try as they do not need to be pinched. The "Pink Bubblegum" variety has to be the most vigorous, continuously blooming petunia ever.

I love daylilies as long as they are not the stella-de-boring yellow, which I hate.

And I really dislike pink. The color range in the back garden is yellow-orange-red, with white and purple accents. Although, I confess, three pink trumpet trees were allowed in because they are magnificent in and out of bloom. But they bloom early, and I used some landscape tricks to keep them from clashing during their show.

One of my biggest are pelargoniums. Beautiful flowers...but the foliage makes me cringe.

I know I'll get "WHAT????!!!" posts for this one, too, but Lamium is another on the hate list. Every single time I see it anywhere or see a post about it, I can't help but think to myself "You know that's basically a weed, right? I can pick some for you in the grass in my front yard..." :)

Always hated petunias, too. The no-deadheading thing does make them a bit more attractive, though (but only a bit). I know they are superbloomers, but my grandmother had those every year I think since I was born and I..just...can't...take them anymore. Meh....

Kevin

While I do not HATE daylilies, I would question some words in this quote , like zero maintenance , reliable perennials unbothered by any garden pests. None of those apply to modern daylilies they sell here, only to some historics. Some of them take several years just to settle down, while you ask yourself each day : will it live or die?? And then produce 1 fan a year. Or grow without ever blooming. And they rot just like irises do, especially after hard winter. If they survive, they get those thin grassy leaves like seedlings. Some of them just start again as a seedling each second year. Not to mention those larvae eating the flower buds from inside.
So no, they are not unbothered and reliable. Those days are long gone. Just like with the hostas.

But, I definitely used to have very little interest in Hostas, but now I have more interest. My neighbors grew a very common variety that I didn't like the appearance of and grew them in straight lines on either side of their walkway without any other companion plant and that one instance was probably the biggest reason I didn't like them. But I've added a couple over the years and they definitely are workhorses. I don't have problems with slugs yet, probably because I haven't got a ton of them planted together. But I would like to increase what I have. What made me change my mind? Well, Hostas have improved over the past 20 years. Then there are so many versions of them. And I didn't really appreciate them until I grew them and discovered how carefree they are (when you don't have slugs), and how faithfully they come back after winter, and how pretty they are when they unfurl in the spring, and how effectively they shade out weeds and how many places you can put them in even the darkest corners, and how they get larger and larger every season and yet don't travel and become a nuisance, and how they disappear above ground in winter and don't mind having snow piled up on them, and how easy and fun they are to grow from seed and how much of a big large leaved impact they have, like few other plants and how it is the first plant you think of when you want to add some contrast. So, I have grown to appreciate them more. :-)

Lunaria is a plant I've grown more and more to appreciate. It is completely carefree to me. I never do one thing for it. It is biennial and reseeds and I love the natural way in which it congregates in the back edges of some of my borders. And how it germinates and produces the baby plants this year that will be next year's blooming additions to the border. They are a great filler without being a nuisance. I rarely ever even pull one out, but they are easy to pull out. They are pretty in bloom and interesting when they set seed. And they bloom at a time between the first major blooms of spring and the next June burst of blooms. They bloom in shady, dry areas where little else will and in partly sunny areas too. They never have had insect damage or disease. And I just don't have to give them a thought but they show up and contribute at their time.

The few new ones I've added myself also fall into that category. They were purchased & shipped from mail order nurseries in various parts of the U.S. but all have proven to perform as well as the existing mature clumps. All produce multiple stems, buds & blooms throughout the season, year after year. I have them growing in all my garden beds whether north, south, east or west facing.

kay

I used to be a great enthusiast for daylilies, purchasing many different ones through mail order. But then I grew bored and moved off to planting more of other perennials. When we moved, I did bring some daylilies and planted them together in a bed out front, but I didn't really plan to expand their area.

When we removed the concrete and made planters in our back yard, I saw a daylily that caught my eye at the nursery; Cleda Jones a reblooming 30" plant with 6" yellow-gold flowers. And I knew where I wanted to use it to carry over the yellow from the Tecoma stans on the opposite end of the back yard, and to jazz up the base of the red flowering Tecoma 'Bells of Fire', because their flowers are concentrated at about the 3.5-5' level.

That single 1 gal. H. Cledra Jones grew very quickly in one year, and became a focal point by what I call the pit patio. And now I find myself wondering what other daylilies I can add to become focals earlier and later in the season. Such a fickle gardener, I am!

The added photo shows Cledra Jones between the tree and the fire pit. Without that one plant, right now that section of the patio would look flat.

Linaria -- me too! Love how it pops up all over and looks terrific almost everywhere.

By all means, carry on with the discussion of dislikes -- that's also very interesting.

One main thing I've grown to dislike (or at least to be irritated by) is the huge double- flowered peonies. While I love the scent and the flowers themselves, they always , always end up looking awful flopped on the lawn after any rain or wind.

When the clump of bergenia was dumped on me by my sister who was rescuing various perennials from someone who had purchased a home with an extensive perennial bed and who had no appreciation them, I'll admit I wasn't really impressed. But that one clump has taken hold of me. I now have it in about 5 locations, and have given many pieces to admirers. I've recently discovered it's the perfect plant to use on the east side of my house where I hardly ever go, but try to keep tidy and attractive for the neighbors sake. Since they need so little care and don't allow weeds to invade them they're perfect there. Of course I love it in my shade bed also.

I totally agree about the groundcover sedums and love solomon's seal too.

When I first planted the gardens at our house I was allll about flowers. All flowers, all the time. My primary concern (aside from cultural requirements) was how long it bloomed and in what colors. The results in June and July were utterly spectacular. But August-Sept were dreary and there was little structure in the beds to maintain year-round interest. So what I have come to appreciate are plants with architectural and textural interest. These days I am avidly planting shrubs to provide a framework for all the perennials. As a result I am also taking out quite a few perennials to balance things out. I'm also adding more foliage plants for their steady hand in keeping a large bed looking good.

So my new best friends include many plants I would not have considered 10 years ago: ninebark, sand cherry, dwarf spruces of many kinds, heuchera, dwarf honeysuckle, etc.

These evolving relationships are a big part of what keeps gardening constantly fun and challenging over the years. I always feel ~3 years from being really done - and that time frame has never changed. I wonder if it ever will?

I now have 'Joanna Reed' which already almost 4 feet wide by a little over two feet tall after being planted from a tiny mail order division last July. Close up, the flower spikes are much longer, denser and with larger individual florets than either 'Walker's Low' or 'Six Hills Giant', but from a distance the overall garden effect is much the same though the flowers are a bit more on the blue side. It is also supposed to be sterile was given a perfect 5 star rating in the Chicago Botanic Garden nepeta trials. The first flush shows no signs of fading and yet the plant is already producing secondary buds that will ultimately be taller than the primary flush. The plant will probably build up to 4 feet tall or more by summer's end.

I also have some Nepeta nuda started from seed which have not yet flowered. They are growing well but are not nearly as vigorous as 'Joanna Reed'.

Is nepeta my favorite plant? Not by a long shot. But I have come to love its abundant display of blue-violet flowers and ease of care. Many are also enjoyed by pollinators but most of our insect friends will overlook the nepeta if something more appealing like an allium or calamintha is in bloom nearby.

I am also going to plant some bergenia, so thanks, North53. I have never had it in my garden.

On the way out for me is hostas. I like them, but in my zone you just cannot win against the snails and slugs.

I also have to say... I'm terrible about thinking of using shrubs and things. When I first started this gardening thing (yes, gardening thing... to emphasize the insanity) I thought "who needs shrubs". Well, turns out... me. The one area that I redid that features a shrub is probably my favorite garden, so now I'm going back to other areas and reevaluating what shrubs I might be able to move in ha ha