Five plants even you can't kill

[NNN0LHI]

Looking for a sure thing? The experts recommend five never-say-die plants to keep your garden blooming

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-080601survivors-photogallery,0,3211740.photogallery

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. They forgot two perennial favorites in my garden

crabgrass and poison ivy!

Two true never-say-die plants.

:hi:

[NNN0LHI]

2. Freaking Creeping Charlie here

I can fight it but I can't beat it thats for sure. 20 years and still trying.

Don

[Blue Diadem]

7. Creeping Charlie here too..along with bishop weed

I can't imagine why anyone would actually buy bishop weed. It was here when we moved in, is considered an invasive and once it's established, is darn near impossible to get rid of, just like creeping charlie.

We've been fighting both for almost 20 yrs too.

[Deja Q]

3. Ah, but can you eat them?

:evilgrin:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Buckthorn, the Kudzu of the North.

Try killing buckthorn. Go ahead, just try it. It's the zombie plant that refuses to die.

[yellowdogintexas]

5. Sweet Autumn Clematis ..the Kudzu of North Texas

innocently planted by prior homeowner for its sweet smelling white blossoms in August and its green lush vine, even in a drought year..


that damn stuff is taking over the world. It has popped up in places clear across my yard I swear I think it tunnels like moles ...or maybe it is a member of the Johnson Grass family.

[dixiegrrrrl]

29. I second that

former gardener planted it, it has taken me 2 years to discover we actually have gardinias and sweet olive under the 10 year old mounds of that clematis.
that and damn vinca covering 5 acres of woods on one side.
Sub-tropical Zone 8 here, everything grows 2 feet a day.

[yellowdogintexas]

6. I have killed Hosta AND petunias. Well something literally mowed down

my last pot of petunias, sheared them off at the dirt line. But I need to plant mine soon, my pansies finally have pooped out. I am also thinking of some bright geraniums with trailing sweet potato vines around them in a large pot in my yard.

Daylilies and North Texas were made for one another. I plant a few new ones every year, and they never fail to perform.

This year, I am planting some blooming sages and coneflowers. We had a tree taken down because it was attacking the power lines and suffocating another tree and now I have a new large patch of sun in which to plant things.

Oh yeah, in my shade areas, I just stick a bunch of caladium bulbs in the ground, water well and jump back. They love our heat and my big tree makes my front yard like a cave.

[zanne]

8. Bittersweet vine invades and conquers.

I've tried everything. Twenty-five years of digging, cutting, professional tree-stump removal, even chemicals. Every couple of weeks, another shoot pops up absolutely anywhere in the yard. I have to keep the telephone pole near my yard free of it; I've all but given up on my "white" picket fence. It lost the battle to Bittersweet vine long ago.

[China_cat]

9. Wanna bet?

I've killed everyone of them except the cornflower. That's only because it doesn't grow down here.

[Solon]

10. Nothing will kill daylilies, I know, I tried everything...

Have them in the garden, and they spread like weeds if you let them. Even if you dig the bastards up, they still grow in that damned spot. Its hard as hell to kill them.

[Jade Fox]

11. My favorite un-killable plant......

You can drive over this (perennial geranium) with the lawn mower, and in a few weeks it will be back and blooming. I know cuz I dun it!!

[NNN0LHI]

13. Fortunately they are pretty suckers though

So you have that consolation.

Don

[Blue_In_AK]

17. Those grow wild all over in Alaska.

I think they're beautiful.

[khashka]

12. I can't do 5

Kudzu

Mother In Laws Tongue

Crown of Thorns

Khash.

[sarge43]

14. Creeping phlox, mint, lupine, chives, bee balm n/t

[Critters2]

15. I have an 8 year old peace lily. I've done everything I usually do to plants

and the damn thing just won't die. It was a gift from a parishioner in Iowa. He was a great guy, a gentle soul. It's nice to have this living reminder of him in my office. And no matter what I do, it looks like I'll have it forever!

[NV Whino]

23. Give it LOTS of water

I've killed those with too much water.

[Critters2]

27. Good to know. My mistake seems to be watering it only when it looks droopy.

Then it perks right up and keeps living. Maybe if I water it everyday, it'll go the way of all plants. All plants of mine, that is.

[GirlinContempt]

16. Chives.

Now, I'm good with plants, but these things are nuts.

Planted them one year in a container. Fall comes, we dumped the container in the unheated garage. The thing has no windows, no heat, and winter here goes down to -40C.

Spring rolls around, Still coolish, still no heat or light, or water for that matter. The bloody things start growing. And they got BIG before we even took them out.

Same deal for the next couple of years. This past winter, I just left the planter outside, it was buried in fall leaves as the house is surrounded by massive trees, then completely covered in thick, heavy snow.

They're about a foot tall already and spreading out. Started growing before we even cleaned the planter out.

Insane.

[Blue_In_AK]

18. It's the first thing that comes up in my garden in the spring.

I love to see it.

[femmocrat]

19. Wild buttercups.... how does one get rid of these?

They are extremely invasive and have long spreading roots.

Also for me.... daffodils and grape hyacinth. I dig them out; they come back. I just dug out about a million daffodils and plan to give them to our school's perennial garden. They are gorgeous when they are blooming, but I can't stand their long leaves that you have to leave on them until they turn yellow.

[tulip]

24. dig them out

[spindrifter]

20. Well, I've killed hosta!

We used to have quite a bit of it when we moved into this house. It's gone. I did nothing to send it on its way. But I haven't managed to get rid of the morning glories or the blackberries. And I've tried, oh how I've tried!

[femmocrat]

21. Oh yeah, those wild morning glories....

Impossible to get rid of. They literally strangle the bushes. (They are also called "bindweed".) They are pretty easy to pull out of the ground when they are still small, though.

Add wild roses to the blackberries. Pretty, but have vicious thorns!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. Wild roses took over my yard.

They are really hard to get rid of because they send out runners and pop up all over the place.

[NV Whino]

22. Maybe I can't kill petunias

but my deer can. I swear the damned deer can smell them two counties away.

[Kingofalldems]

25. Bamboo--it's a curse

[martymar64]

28. Blackberry bushes. . . am I right, Cascadians?

Everywhere in the PNW are huge blackberry bushes that are indestructible. Cut 'em, dig 'em out, and the thorny fuckers keep coming back.

[kath]

30. Bermuda grass. The devil plant from Hell.

creeps into your flower beds and veg garden no matter what you do.

Lawn grass is supposed to grow UP, not sideways, and should be soft, not prickly.
Oh, how I hate it.