Good gardening includes doing some research when planning your garden! Sometimes a plant that looked so appealing in the garden center or catalog, can turn into a monster that makes you despair of ever getting rid of it. Learn from the mistakes that this author and other Master Gardeners have made when choosing plants for their gardens.

Before - When it seemed like a good idea

Garlic Chives

“What a beautiful flower, it looks like lace! Look at all the bees buzzing around it! The leaves are like chives! I can put it in salads!” I was looking at a small neat clump of plant, about 15” high. We had just moved onto a piece of land of about an acre. It came with many plants, and I had brought more from our old house. 

Yellow Archangel

We have a wooded area containing poplars and spruce trees, so when I looked through the catalogs, I looked for shade-tolerant plants. I saw a variegated ground cover that had lovely yellow flowers that was supposed to do well in the shade. I bought ten of those. 

Siberian Squill

I wanted a water feature to go through the woods, but after looking into the cost and the time required for maintenance, I decided that I would make a “pond and stream” of plants. What was blue like water? I found a small bulb that had a delightful blue flower and planted it in my “pond and stream” – Siberian Squill.

After – when a good idea became a problem

Garlic Chives

I have found out that certain, seemingly well-behaved plants can reach a “critical mass,” explode over your flower beds and then escape to places you never wanted them. Garlic chives have exploded all along the road-bank, which is made of limestone. This makes it very difficult to dig out the bulbs, which must be removed to eradicate the plant. Using an herbicide would kill the shrubs and other desirable plants. On the upside, they do stabilize the road-side.

Yellow Archangel

Yellow Archangel has escaped into the woods. It is non-native but but has one redeeming quality – it suppresses Buckthorn – a genuine invasive plant that out competes native species.

Siberian Squill

Siberian Squill has taken over the “pond and stream.” The blue flowers have been sparse and the foliage gets larger every year. This year they have defeated the Lamium “White Nancy,” that fills the pond and stream throughout the rest of the year. Siberian Squill propagates by self-seeding. Here you can see that the squill has escaped into the woods. Not looking forward to digging those out. This plant has the potential to become an invasive plant given its rapid spread and ability to grow almost anywhere.

Other Master Gardeners Weigh in

I asked some fellow Master Gardeners to reveal the plants that they have regretted buying and here is their list:        

The lesson is – do your research before you buy a plant for your garden. You can start with our mistakes!

Photo credits: Marjorie Blare (1-8)