What plants do you dislike but tolerate for pollinators?

V. Bampton is a much more prolific self-seeder than V. bonariensis here, and it particularly likes the very edges of borders and cracks in paving and concrete. there's a clump in my driveway just now that makes my car beep like a crazy thing when I pull in, but I do like it so it can stay a while longer.

 

Lavender, marjoram and mature ivy...bees love 'em, so they can stay....in moderation!

 

I have the opposite problem - thugs that are shy.

I have VB slowly spreading out from the one place I planted it and it agreed to grow. I like it and so do the buzzies but it resists being hurried along.

I planted lavender to help deter pests in the roses. The 3 plants that survived have decided to thrive as foliage plants and are reluctant to flower before September/October by which time th eneed for aphid control is almost over and the birds are managing it just fine.

I planted an acanthus. In Belgium it was so happy it spread and grew magnificent leaves but felt no need to flower. Here, I've seen it flowering its socks off in dry gravel between church walls and paving slabs. I gave it a good spot in my garden and for the last 2 springs it has produced 3 leaves then curled up and died back.

Maddening.

 

@pete Evening primrose and pink, red and white valerian grow prolifically all round here especially in sunny dry spots whether managed or wild.

Is there any in my plot? No, and no seeds in the shops either.

But I do have lots of wild carrot, wild malva, wild achillea, several clovers and lots of assorted yellow daisies in our wilderness.

 

I don't have anything I don't like in my garden, even for pollinators, because I have other things that do the job just as well. If I don't like something I pull it out, or I don't buy it in the first place.
Things that have a tendency to get out of control get controlled !

I tolerate some weeds i.e. wild flowers from the surrounding hedgerows, that I think are pretty e.g. Ox eye daisies, Scarlet Pimpernel, Herb Robert, Welsh Poppies to name a few - I don't think of them as weeds and I leave them in odd corners .
Other things, that I do call weeds, get pulled out.

 

VB is growing out of cracks in the tarmac on our pavement. South facing. Baking hot. Bone dry. I mention this in case anyone wants to know the conditions it chooses for itself.
If you want to grow it and you have a few seeds left in the bottom of the packet, sprinkle them between cracks somewhere sunny. You might be lucky. If not, it cost you nothing.

 

I like valerian, especially the red one but I have all colours . Scarlet pimpernel but it needs controlling, linaria purpurea, centaurea, been Robert and several others.
Hedge woundwort, fox a4n cubs and teasel if it seeds somewhere stupid ( which it often does) are not welcome but I reserve my particular dislike for grim urbanism ( what PT calls geum urbanum)

 

I also have cow parsley in the garden. Much easier to grow than the similar, cultivated umbellifers!
It's never been a problem, and it provides a lot of food for early pollinators etc. I just cut it back when it goes over. It woul dget pulled out if it became a problem.
The wild white yarrow is another recent addition. There's lots of it around here, so gathering some seed was easy. I've just planted a couple of small pieces. Again, if it gets ideas above it's staion, it'll get pulled out. The cultivated yarrows can be a bit hit and miss here as it's too cold and wet for many of them, unfortunately.
I have marsh woundwort here in one of the raised beds. It's in one of the sunniest, best drained parts of the garden, which puts paid to the usual info about it's likes/dislikes and habitats! It's often a bit too full of itself, so I have to keep it tamed, but the bees love it too, so I don't mind it....for now...
I've had a little success with Lunaria seeds I've sown, and I've just collected some more, so they'll be added somewhere. I always remember my Grandpa having it in his garden, and I think of him every time I see it.

 

Yellow yarrow has appeared in my front garden. Not a colour I would have chosen if I was buying a cultivated one but welcome all the same.
The other yellow weed in my grass is coming into its own now that the south facing 'lawn' is drying up for the summer.

 

I only have one plant that kind of fits the bill and that's a white michaelmass daisy that's been in the family for 50+ years. It's quite nice in small doses but is so rampant that's it becomes a pain if you don't thin it out and inevitably you don't thin it out enough.

This year we have a nice crop of ragwort that is right in the way of our washing line but it's staying until it finishes flowering. We get the odd one springing up in an unsuitable place but as it's a biennial, I tend to be kinda.

Like @fairygirl I have cow parsley that I've deliberately planted and its been very well behaved, id like it to spread more really. I don't think there are many nicer plants in spring especially with bluebells at their feet.

 

Stachys 'Lambs Ears'. It's an absolute thug in my garden but the bees love it. Despite ripping out masses of the stuff every year it keeps coming back. I'm going to have to try to find a 'sweet spot' between it flowering and setting seed to have any chance of eradicating it, or at least getting it back fully under control.

 

It's awful hard to be virtuous isn't it?

 

No idea. I never try.