What hasn't quite turned out as you'd hoped?

Hello!
I'm new to the forum and have had such a lovely welcome, so thank you all.

This question just occurred to me:

I have a star jasmine by my front door and, a few years ago, it produced a couple of seed pods. I like seeing if random things will grow or not, so sowed them in a pot and was thrilled when three germinated. Promptly knocked them over and then there were two.

They were grown on, potted up and potted on for about four years and grew into decent-sized plants. I was delighted when, finally, they developed a few flower buds and waited with great anticipation for them to open.

When they finally did, I went in for a sniff of the delicious fragrance - only to find that they smelt awful! What I'd not thought about is that things don't necessarily come true from seed. Had to laugh .

That got me thinking. Has anyone else planted or sowed something that didn't turn out quite as you'd hoped?

 

@Inkymink excellent question - but how long have you got?
I've grown loads of things that either take over the world or turn out to be "meh". Romneya coulteri is currently coming into flower, but is it worth the huge area it's starting to take? I've had indigofera that are large but hohum flowers, a dwarf verbena that had to be pulled out in chunks, and houttenyia cordata (yuck the pong when weeding), lysimachia Firecracker (just call it Putin)...

 

Life.

 

A Bramley apple tree, 15 years ago, bought on “dwarf rootstock”. It is now at upstairs bedroom height and the sparrows wave to me in the morning from it.

 

Plants I foolishly ordered from deJager without checking their appalling trustpilot reviews .

 

I'm sorry to say it, but that's very encouraging!

 

So true!

 

I bought some seeds from Sarah Raven for Viola Frizzle Sizzle Burgundy. THis is how they turned out. 3 plants out of 6 seeds for £5.95. I have asked for a refund but they are sending a replacement. I don't want to wait 6 months to find out that they have c**ked up again.

 

How disappointing. That reminds me that I tried some nasturtiums a couple of years ago that were meant to be 'Ladybird Rose' but turned out to be yellow and orange .

 

The list is endless but this year I bought Violas for the first time in many years, because I wanted to press the petals for a craft project I'm doing ... but they're hopeless. Small deformed flowers and even those are chewed by something, don't know if it's slugs or caterpillars or vine weevils, but they are decimated, and I am disappointed in them

 

Oh, what a shame!

 

@Michael Hewett strangely this year, I bought a few (cheap) viola plants from Charlie's, they filled the pots and started flowering. I gave them a chop in late April and they flowered massively. Best I've seen for some time. Maybe if you had them in pots they'd be safer - these are terracotta and maybe put off the slugs?

 

I've had some really good cheapos . I bought them last year. Can't remember where but there's mounds of flowers but only the ones the slugs didn't get. However, once rescued, they flower well again.

 

I saw a remaindered plant labelled Melandrium dioica for 99p and thought I couldn't go wrong. It must be some exotic treasure.
It turned out to be red campion, no longer silene dioica as I knew it!

 

I planted a goji berry bush, a tiny little thing yellow-stickered in the supermarket for 30p. Less than 3 years later it's a huge sprawling unpretty mess which I'm constantly having to cut back.It's currently got mildew too. I saw a few flowers last year but no fruit. If it does nothing this year it's coming out.