Plants that used to be naff

One of our Spanish friends tells us about the pampas weed. It has taken over so many areas to the detriment of other local plants. As a child we had one in our garden and we then tried to grow one in our garden but to no success. Maybe a good thing.
Lobelias? Don't grow them.
Fuchsias? We have 2 (no idea what they are) but they are in the ground and cut back each year. Never have profusion of flowers but we have enough.

 

Glad the new Hens are settling in @Obelix-Vendée The only Kiwi I grew was the self fertile Jenny. Did well enough in France ( S W ) but not so good here.

Gorgeous pics @Plantminded Glad I am not alone in liking them
I love Nasturtiums - the only "naff" thing about them for me is that they rapidly become infested with Blackfly.

 

I grew nasturtiums as sacrificial plants in my veg plot in Belgium and they worked a treat. We have a short slope here, made by previous owners and covered with that ghastly weed suppressant membrane with planting holes for dwarf conifers and other shrubs.

All the conifers have died and some of the shrubs and it's become a weedfest so we're gradually covering the slope with stones we find when digging in the garden and I'm planning to scatter nasturtium seeds in there next spring to see if they'll suppress weeds and attract aphids for the birds to scoff.

 

I also dislike [that's the mild term!] those rows of bedding. It's an old fashioned sort of regime, but there's really nothing wrong with the plants themselves, other than whether you like the individual colours etc. It's mainly how they're used that makes the difference.
I regularly pass a house on a corner site that has those regimented rows. The whole garden is in 'that style' with everything clipped and trimmed to within an inch of it's life. On the opposite corner of the road it's on is a garden which couldn't be more different. It still has some bedding, but it's all done in a tasteful, balanced way, and works with the rest of the garden. I always smile when I go past the houses, because of that obvious contrast.

We're all different in what we like, and how we use plants.

 

My SIL loved roses but didn't care if they had perfume, mixed all the colours together and grew them with ruthlessly weeded bare soil between them. The only other plants allowed were some coloured primulas for spring. She needed to spray for aphids and black spot and mildew.

I grow my roses in pots for their first year or two to develop a good root system and then they get planted cheek by jowl with other shrubs and perennials to hide their bare legs and give year round interest. I never spray.

 

I give the aphids the fondle of death now and again.

 

There is a house near me that has two lawns separated by a central path and both lawns have a perimeter bed that is bare soil apart from a double row of marigolds (all the exact same colour). There is nothing else in the garden apart from perfectly spaced marigolds and manicured lawns. In the winter it is just the lawns and bare soil.

 

Some gardeners are controllers and some are referees

 

Lobelia does seem tricky to grow from seeds. I tried cuttings last autumn. Very low success rate ... but deeply chuffed to get two viable plants.

 

Good way of putting it.