Key Points
Hydrangeas, roses, and ranunculus need lots of care and don’t always bloom well.Zucchini overgrows, leaving gardeners with a surplus of veggies to eat or get rid of.Pampas grass has messy seasonal dieback and leaves bare patches in the winter.
While every gardener will have their preferences regarding the plants in their garden, we wanted to know which popular plants don’t live up to the hype, according to experienced gardeners.
We asked two gardening experts what popular plants they secretly hate (and why), and their answers surprised us. Here’s what they had to say.
Meet the Expert
Diane Kuthy is a gardening expert and founder of the blog How to Grow Everything.
Bryan Clayton is the CEO of GreenPal, a website dedicated to connecting homeowners with lawn care professionals in their area.
Hydrangeas
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Elizabeth Fernandez / Getty Images
Hydrangeas are beloved for their massive blooms, vintage appeal, and stunning colors, but gardening expert Diane Kuthy says they are among her least favorite plants to grow.
Kuthy explains how hydrangeas often don’t bloom and are actually challenging to look after.
“They may look beautiful in pictures, but creating that magical hydrangea garden in real life seems like a fairytale,” she says.
If you’re interested in large flowers, try starting with a more accessible flowering plant such as peonies. Peonies may take a year or so to establish, but they are known to flower prolifically once they are happy.
Rose Bushes
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JENNIFER E. WOLF / Getty Images
Similarly, Kuthy says that she can’t stand growing roses either. Not only are they high-maintenance—requiring regular pruning and fertilization to thrive—but they can be a literal pain to grow.
“I have young children and they are always falling into the rose bushes while playing or getting thorns in their little fingers,” Kuthy says.
She often needs to wear a thick denim hazmat suit to properly prune her rose bushes.
Kuthy removed most of her rose bushes from her 5-acre property, except for a few climbing rose varieties that are still growing on trellises. Since then, they’ve required less maintenance and are mostly out of reach of her kids.
If you’re interested in growing roses but have small kids or pets at home, take a page from Kuthy’s book and try a climbing rose species instead of a traditional rose bush.
Ranunculus
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The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Another gorgeous-yet-finicky flower is the ranunculus. They make the perfect addition to any bouquet and have become a sought-after choice for cutting gardens and container planting.
According to Kuthy, their high-maintenance nature has landed these delicate flowers on her no-grow list.
“These flowers require far too much care, timing, and management to bloom,” she says. “Ranunculus corms require cool temperatures in order to bloom, are highly susceptible to root rot, and need to be ‘pre-sprouted’ indoors to ensure that they will survive once planted in the ground.”
Zucchini
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The Spruce / K. Dave
Zucchini tends to be a default option for new gardeners as they tackle vegetable gardening for the first time, but Kuthy says she can’t stand growing the plant because of its abundance.
“Even just one zucchini plant produces so much that I usually just end up feeding the extra to my chickens,” she says.
Over-production may seem like a silly problem, but the stress of trying to offload homegrown produce you won’t end up using before it goes bad can be very real.
If you’re a die-hard zucchini lover, then, by all means, dive into zucchini growing head-first. However, if you prefer the occasional zucchini over making it a staple of every meal this summer, consider skipping this plant.
Pampas Grass
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Lizelle Botes / EyeEm/Getty Images
Pampas grass has grown in popularity the past few years thanks to its decorative look which has been a sought-after addition to home gardens ever since. However, landscaping expert Bryan Clayton says it’s his least favorite plant to grow.
Pampas may be cheap and quickly fill up space, but it can easily become a nightmare in October when it withers and leaves yellow messes all over which will need to be cleaned up and chopped down to the ground, Clayton says.
“You’re left with a bare spot all winter,” he says.
Instead, Clayton recommends opting for something that will stay green year-round and save you the hassle of a seasonal cleanup like evergreen shrubs or holly.
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