what is the 1 plant

[Ladygardener]

Hi folks, not a question as to all time favourite but what 1 plant would or could you not be without in your garden?
Mine would be sweetpea, most delicious scent and pretty looking flowers and fairly easy to care for giving fresh cut flowers every few days. Just makes me think of summer.

[Dutchy]

Mint as I am a tea junky ( right after coffee that comes first but won't grow in my garden).
Mint is by far the best stuff you can make tea of.

[Deleted]

My arum lillies. We had a single arum flower as the centrepiece of each table at our wedding and they always remind me of that happy day. They always look so beautiful when they're in flower too.

FA x

[Ladygardener]

I love mint tea too dutchy, make my own regularly. Arum lillies are beautiful FA how good to have such lovely memories.

[andy]

Night scented stock....i just adore the stuff

For a perennial, it'll be my trachelospermum jasminoides right outside the front door....truly gorgeous

[Ladygardener]

Hi Andy, night scented stock is fab, I've already got my seeds for next year. Had good germination this year too. I've tried without sucess to grow the jasmine but although I got leaves I did'nt get flowers I'm sure the scent is lovely outside your door.

[Barbara]

for the same reasons has to be sweet pea

[MamIDdau]

Oooooooooooh I dunno!!

I like my hebe heartbreaker because I love the leaves turning that colour. I like my buddleia because of all the butterflies it attracts. Not had much success with smelly plants this year because it was either too wet to sit out and enjoy them and they were spoilt or it was too windy to smell them. Maybe in the new garden next year it will be a bit more sheltered and I might stand a chance of being able to smell something from them!
I do quite like my rose rhapsody in blue at the moment though but only because I keep forgetting to go dig it up and I'm getting possessive about it. Even though it did only cost me £1.50.... ;D

[Weeterrier]

I couldn't be without Phlox in my garden. The scent of it is so lovely to my nose that it makes me want to weep. I know that sounds smushy, but the scent reminds me of very happy times which I will never forget.

[thecleaninglady]

Think it has to be lavender for me.
I always brush my hand over lavender whenever I see it.
I have a big bush just by the front door which smells lovely and is always full of bees and other insects.

[Juliet]

Poppies ... I'm an addict ... oops, that didn't come out quite the way I meant it! - I'm addicted to growing them, looking at them, & photographing them, not anything else to do with them!

[Weeterrier]

juliet said:

Poppies ... I'm an addict ... oops, that didn't come out quite the way I meant it! - I'm addicted to growing them, looking at them, & photographing them, not anything else to do with them!

I believe you

[Shrubrose]

Well, as it was the first rose that I grew and it did so well, I'd go for rosa buff beauty. For it's overall impact, it's fragrance and colour and it's repeat flowering from June through to Christmas.

[Essexgirl]

Buddleia. I like the smell and it attracts lots of butterflies.

[farmersboy]

Sweet peas,which reminds me,must get mine sown next week.
If i could have another one,it would be my Brugs.

[Plocket]

Clematis - I bet that surprised you!!!

[Weeterrier]

Clematis Plocket? Surely not? ;D

[Ladygardener]

No surprise there at all plocket lol. do you have a favourite all rounder? weeterrier I thought the phlox did exceptionally well this year and was sweeter than ever before.
Essex girl and Aprilaydee, I love buddlea too especially the darker shade, do have to keep it in check 'tho. It's funny how you become attached to plants I've got a sedium spectacular which has followed me in slips from every home I've ever had.
Farmers boy and Barbara let us know how you get on with your sowing.
Shrubrose, roses are the one thing I don't have in my garden although I love them if they have a nice scent. I guess I've somehow thought of them as needing a lot of chemicals to keep the pests away.
Juliet, had to laugh at your post, I'm going to try poppies from seed in spring, bought burgundy frills from T&M last week.
Thecleaninglady, I love lavender too but have'nt had as much success as I'd like with taking my cuttings. I think the french ones seem to take better than the english ones. Have you found that?

[snowowl]

This is so hard to choose just one but if i had to it would be my Heucheras.

[beanie]

I can't decide between my roses or geraniums

[Ladygardener]

I like heucheras too snowowl but have'nt had any success at all trying to grow them so had to give up for the time being.
Both no doubt beautiful in their own way beanie.

[Deleted]

Rosemary. A friend gave us a cutting which is now massive - together with mint and bay (from the same source), it was one of the first plants in our garden. It looks lovely and is evergreen, smells fantastic when you brush against it, is indispensible in the kitchen, covered with gorgeous blue flowers in Spring ... what more could you want ;D? ... cheers ...

[Weeterrier]

ladynovicegardener said:

I like heucheras too snowowl but have'nt had any success at all trying to grow them so had to give up for the time being.
Both no doubt beautiful in their own way beanie.

I haven't had success with Heuchera either, and neither have my friends or neighbours. It's a pity, because they have such beautiful shades of deep purple now, and their names are mouth-watering.
Shrub.......I had 'Buff Beauty' once, when I was in a garden with clay soil, the roses loved it. It's a corker.

[MamIDdau]

Oh yeah, I can I add rosemary, lavender and orange thyme to my one plant list pls? ;D

[Deleted]

April, one plant really does seem very hard - so why not lump all herbs into a sort of 'umbrella plant', and then you can have sage too - smells and tastes lovely, and has glorious flowers ... cheers ...

[Plocket]

Yes LNG - my favorite all-rounder is clematis - I reckon there's a clematis for most positions and situations Except for desert climates - don't test me with that one

[Ladygardener]

CC all the herbs are lovely are'nt they, they're in a class of their own. I think of them as different to the other plants in the garden for some reason. Can't resist running my fingers along the mint and rosemary and thyme and majorm and oregano etc......... irresistable (sp)

[Ladygardener]

weeterrier, it must be hard to grow heuchera then I think but one of my neighbours who does very little with her garden has a lovely bronze/red one growing well in a centre bed and appears to be thriving on neglect!!

[Ladygardener]

snowowl I love your ativar, very seasonal

[Juliet]

ladynovicegardener said:

Shrubrose, roses are the one thing I don't have in my garden although I love them if they have a nice scent. I guess I've somehow thought of them as needing a lot of chemicals to keep the pests away.

I am chemical-free, Ladynovice, & I have lots of roses - all I give them is a trowelful of chicken pellets in the spring. They do get black spot, but that's just unsightly, & you can pick off the affected leaves - doesn't seem to bother the roses at all. If you chose disease resistant varieties they should be pretty healthy apart from that, with no need for chemicals. If they get greenfly you can buy ladybirds or lacewings by mailorder to keep the numbers down, or hang a bird seed feeder or fatball in or near the rose & the birds will eat the greenfly as well. If you want roses without having to give them any tlc at all, you could get something like a Rosa rugosa - some of them are scented, they flower all through the summer, the single ones have decorative hips in the autumn, & they prefer not to be sprayed or fed or anything - will even grow in poor soil &/or fairly shady spots.

Re heucheras - did you try growing them in sun or shade? I had mine in the sun for ages because the label on them said sun, & they weren't very happy - then someone mentioned that they are woodland plants & prefer shade, so I moved them. They look much better now!