11 Plants Experts Regret Putting in Their Garden

As a gardener, I always have the best intentions when it comes to picking plants for my garden. I want them to be beneficial to me and to the wildlife that share my space. It’s always a bonus when they add beauty to my home, too. However, even if a plant is native or pollinator-friendly, it isn’t always the best choice.

Ahead, I’ve rounded up a list of plants that fellow gardeners have regretted planting even though they’re visually appealing. Consider their insights when choosing the right plants for your own outdoor space.

1) Amaranth

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As far as garden regrets, I will go first: amaranth. With its towering stalks and dramatic red plumes, amaranth is both a stunning ornamental and a nutritious grain crop. I planted amaranth with hopes of seeing its beautiful red plumes and harvesting its beneficial grains. That was over 10 years ago. The first couple of seasons, I managed to catch the plant before it set seed. However, little did I know birds love the seeds too. Amaranth produces thousands of tiny, protein-rich seeds that birds find irresistible, so since I actively attract songbirds to my yard, they seem to find the amaranth I miss and let it keep spreading.

2) Garlic Chives

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Garlic chives are a hardy perennial herb that is wonderful for spicing up your savory dishes and is a pollinator magnet. However, if left unchecked, it will take over your garden in a heartbeat. “I have spent the last five-plus years trying to get rid of them in my flower and herb raised bed,” says home gardener Lucy. “I am having luck with aggressive digging when the soil is moist, not letting them bloom, and planting herbs and native plants that can compete.” However, it takes diligence and determination to prevent their spread.

3) Crocosmia

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This vivid, sword-leaved perennial produces striking orange, red, or yellow trumpet-shaped flowers, but its aggressive spread via underground corms and stolons can quickly turn it from a garden showstopper into a takeover artist. “It took off in a garden bed, marched down a slope, and jumped a border of crossties to keep going!” says Lucy, a Master Gardener. And to add insult to injury, it then refused to bloom, leaving her with nothing but a tangle of leaves.

4) Obedient Plant

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Lucy also learned a hard lesson with obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana). “I should have listened when the gardener who shared it with me called it ‘disobedient plant,'” she laughs. While it is aggressive, she notes it is at least easy to pull up when it gets out of bounds. And come late summer, all is usually forgiven when those beautiful pink spires finally bloom.

5) Mountain Mint

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Angie, a home gardener, was drawn to mountain mint for all the right reasons: it’s a native plant and a pollinator magnet. But what she didn’t bargain for was how aggressively it would try to take over her entire garden.

6) Bee Balm

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Bee balm lured Angie in as well with equally good credentials: native, pollinator-friendly, a favorite of hummingbirds, and wonderfully fragrant. Both times, however, the plants fell victim to horrible powdery mildew, despite being planted in a sunny, well-aerated spot. “I regret this one the most because I love it so much, but it breaks my heart every time. And still, I keep wanting another one!”

7) Mexican Petunia

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“Oh my gosh, Mexican petunia,” says Michelle from @Everyday Gardening Tips on Instagram. With its vivid purple blooms and willowy stems, Mexican petunia is an eye-catching perennial that thrives in heat and humidity. But don’t let its delicate appearance fool you: it is a quick spreader that somehow rises back from the dead every season. “I’ve dug it up and trashed it every year, and it somehow reappears.

8) Spiderwort

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Claudia of Claudia Grows It All learned the hard way that spiderwort’s delicate appearance is deceiving. This native wildflower, with its grass-like leaves and vivid blue-purple blooms, spread aggressively through her garden, choking out everything around it. “I have been fighting a losing battle with it for more than years, and if I’m being honest, I am losing.”

9) Black-Eyed Susan

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Claudia also found herself at odds with black-eyed Susan, the cheerful yellow daisy-like perennial beloved by pollinators. Though a garden staple, it proved just as thuggish as its counterparts, spreading to places she never intended and overwhelming everything in its path.

10) Variegated Japanese Knotweed

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Robbie of Visit Our Garden admits that a bargain plant turned into a years-long headache. “I planted this stunning plant seven years ago because I got it for $1,” he says. It took only two years to discover just how invasive and destructive variegated Japanese knotweed can be. “I’m still getting pieces that pop up in that spot.”

11) Verbena Bonariensis

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Robbie also has regrets about verbena bonariensis. He ignored the warnings from fellow gardeners who told him he would have it forever and urged him to take it out. Now, years later, he is still pulling seedlings.