Garden Nightmares: Perennial Flowers You Should Never Plant

by John Griffith Mar 29, 2023 @ 14:26

Having flowers that appear year after year without you having to replant them is a blessing. There are a ton of beautiful perennial you can add to your garden to create your dream landscape and add a burst of color and texture. However, there are some flowers it’s best to avoid. While they may lure you in with the promise of beautiful blooms or their ability to withstand harsh conditions, their dark side will show sooner or later. And then you will be scratching your head wondering why you decided to plant them in the first place. There are some perennial troublemakers that like to become invasive and take over your garden. This results in stolen nutrients, smothering and replacing all your other beautiful plants. It becomes an endless struggle to keep them contained. So, save yourself from these troubles and make sure you avoid planting these pesky perennial flowers.

There are some perennial troublemakers that like to become invasive

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Perennial Flowers You Should Never Plant
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Perennial Flowers You Should Never Plant

Perennials are a great investment for any garden. You plant them once and with a bit of care, they keep coming back every year and filling your garden with marvelous blooms. However, not every perennial is the same. Some perennials tend to be invasive, they spread fast, they don’t bloom as much and are pretty much impossible to get rid of. So, save yourself the headaches and don’t even let them near your garden. Here are some perennial flowers you need to keep away from your garden.

Some perennials tend to be invasive, they spread fast, they don’t bloom as much

#Lily of the Valley

Dainty and beautiful. The Lily of the Valley produces long, green stalks that are dotted with small, white, bell-shaped flowers. This plant often symbolized the renewal of spring, as well as happiness and motherhood. It’s pretty eye catching and can easily lure you in and make you want to add it to your garden. However, don’t let its innocent looks deceive you. This plant spreads like wildfire and takes up all the space needed for the rest of your plants. It spreads through rhizomes beneath the soil and has no problem overtaking whole garden beds. Each spring you will start to notice more new stalks popping up. If you want this plant in your garden, we recommend growing it in a container.

This plant often symbolized the renewal of spring

#Wisteria

This stunning vine is famous for its delicate, purple flowers that cascade downwards. They are a popular choice for decorating arches and pergolas as they create a fairy tale like scene. However, while they are truly beautiful, they do tend to be quite the aggressive growers. This plant won’t waste any time taking over your garden. It’s roots quickly spread and start to suffocate nearby plants. Not only that but the roots and vines can damage structures nearby with ease, including fences and walls.

This stunning vine is famous for its delicate, purple flowers that cascade downwards

#Sweet Autumn Clematis

Ah, these flowers have a beautiful aroma. The Sweet Autumn Clematis is a vining plant that can easily produce carpets of delicate, aromatic, white blooms in summer and well into fall. It will fill your garden with an intoxicating, sweet scent and make you think that it is a great addition to the garden. And while it does have obvious benefits, it lures you in with its scent and then starts to take over your garden. This vine is a fast grower and reaches well beyond ten feet tall when it has matured. It smothers any nearby plants and spread its seeds even beyond your garden bounds.

The Sweet Autumn Clematis is a vining plant that can easily produce carpets of delicate blooms

#Bachelor’s Button

The fact that it is low-maintenance and blooms in beautiful purple flowers may lure you to plant this flower in your garden. However, alongside its easy care and pretty flowers, you will also get a hyper-reseeding plant that will make its way into every inch of your garden. If you have one clump this year, the next you will have ten, then fifteen and so on. This plant will spread like wildfire. While it is pretty, it simply isn’t worth the hassle. And no matter how many times you try to get it out of your garden, once it’s been there, some seeds will always find a way to grow. So, save yourself from the work and don’t even let it anywhere near your garden.

If you have one clump this year, the next you will have ten

#Crocosmia

This plant has beautiful fiery flowers in red, orange, and yellow. With its beautiful flowers, the Crocosmia attracts a ton of pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. While they are great for local wildlife, they can be great menaces to your garden. While many plant species are considered invasive because of their quick growth and rapid spread, the Crocosmia is considered to be one of the worst. This plant will take over everything! Even if you try to remove it by digging it up, a new one always seems to pop up after some time. It takes up a ton of space and it is a short bloomer. That’s why it is best to avoid this plant.

This plant has beautiful fiery flowers in red, orange, and yellow

#Lamb’s Ear

Lamb’s Ear is a fluffy, fun plant that is nearly irresistible to add to your garden. But hold your horses! While its small size is great for garden borders and it’s soft foliage and unobtrusive gray color complements a variety of other perennials, it is a spreader. Once it develops strong roots, this plants spread along the beds. And to top that off, they also self-seed, which means they have no problem spreading all over your garden. Their rapid spread can become a big problem for smaller gardens.

Lamb’s Ear is a fluffy, fun plant that is nearly irresistible to add to your garden

#Common Periwinkle

This plant is a great ground cover for tougher areas, as it can really quickly fill up a space and cover it in beautiful light purple blooms. It can even thrive in shadier spots, which makes it favorable for many gardeners. However, the thing that makes it great – quick growth and spread, also makes it terrible. The common Periwinkle will grow almost anywhere and we mean anywhere. And if it manages to escape the bounds of your garden it will also take over native areas and threaten the local species. It is a real menace. Not only will it take over your whole garden, it will also take over all areas around it!

This plant is a great ground cover for tougher areas

These were some perennial flowers you should avoid planting in your garden. We hope you found this article useful. Now you know to steer clear from these plants and you will be able to save yourself from a ton of future troubles.

These were some perennial flowers you should avoid planting in your garden

John Griffith

John Griffith is a young, passionate journalist. Writing has been John’s hobby ever since he was a boy. He has worked in some of the UK’s most successful news portals over the course of his professional career but found his forever home at Archzine.