What easy plant is your nemesis?

[IOMQuestions]

It used to be cosmos for me, but finally cracked it last year.

Lavender!!!!!!!

Perhaps it isn't really easy but I see it every where else.

Ah yes, lavender. I have clay soil that gets wet over winter…not ideal conditions. But I do see it everywhere. Also have a fandom one on the allotment I stuck in expect it to die, it’s thrived in v inhospitable conditions for 10 years, looking beautiful with the oregano next to it. Will the buggers do that in the garden…nope.

Yes, lavender and mint!

Lupins! Never got the knack of growing them.

Radishes. I could grow them in the SE, I can’t grow them in Yorkshire. I space out the seeds, keep them nice and moist, and 80% bolt.

Lupins, delphiniums and ranunculus. Massive failures every time.

Cosmos are hit and miss with me - some years great, loads of bug healthy plants, this year I still just have a small number of tiny seedlings. Sweet peas can be like that too - not sure what happened to mine this year.

Delphiniums. They hate me / my garden.

I'm not very good at growing things from seed generally - they always get too leggy and topple over. I try every year and get about a 20% success rate!

Mint. I can’t grow it successfully in pots.

Hostas! Whatever I do, the slugs still find them.😭

Delphiniums. I don’t know why. Just planted some, within 2 days the leaves were going yellow. Are they really that difficult to grow?!

Poppies, they’ll grow in pavement cracks but none in my garden. Thrown down hundreds of seeds over the years and nothing to show for it

Mint! Every time people say, 'Oh you have to be careful, it runs riot,' I am baffled. Can't get it to grow anywhere in any garden I've had. And I love the stuff. Would use it every day in cooking if I could get it to establish.

I've finally got poppies, they just appeared one year and decided they liked it, self seeded everywhere.

Delphiniums. Glad it's not just me.

Anything that’s prone to being eaten by snails - hostas, delphiniums - as my garden is full of them. I’ve had far better results growing from seed since covid, because far more time at home meant I could give them more attention, but I’ve never grown a decent cosmos or sunflower.

Alchemilla. Grows like weed, apparently. Not in my garden.

Another one saying Mint.

Alchemilla - doesn't like my garden either.

Sunflowers - I'm usually fairly good with seeds - benign neglect again...but sunflowers - sowed about 30 this year - I've got 5 that have actually made it through to getting planted out - and they are pretty useless specimens.

MInt - no problems with that - got a huge pot (about 2 foot square) that was started from a weedy looking supermarket plant about 10 years ago. I divide it up every year or so.

Fleabane. Grows in the crack between the wall and the tarmac all around the car parking space however hard DH tries to eradicate it, but when I sprinkle the seed in the equally inhospitable spots or indeed any spot at all in my garden I get not one tiny glimmer of action. I laugh a hollow laugh when I see it on sale for £8.99 in a pot, growing in actual watered compost.

I'm so glad there's loads of people saying mint!

I thought it was just me.

Ah, yes. I find that all those things that have a reputation for prolific self-seeding - Alchemilla mollis, Mexican fleabane - don’t here. They’ll grow quite happily, but nary a seedling.

Lupins! I've tried everything but they just get munched.

Mint, had loads.

now none anywhere. Have bought new and replanted elsewhere. Lasted 2 years.

Ive now given up. Thought it was meant to be indestructible!

Lupins and delphiniums - they get stripped to the stem by aphids, and I don’t like using insecticide.
However, my hostas thrive. To PPs with slug or snail trouble, use garlic to protect them - it’s safe, effective and non toxic to pets or wildlife.
I peel and crush a few garlic cloves and simmer them in 2 pints of water for 20 mins until the water stinks.
Cool, and drain into an old plastic drinks bottle to store it.
At twilight, go out with a good dose of the stinky liquid in a mister spray, and spray all the hosta’s leaves. Slugs hate the taste.
You need to repeat after rain, as it washes off.

This year? Everything. Lost so much to the winter and some random unknown event that has killed loads of potted plants in a specific area. 🧐

Every year? Foxgloves! Of all things, I can’t grow or keep foxgloves. Even the wild sort.