Overlooked, out of fashion, or just unpopular plants ?

Rainy and foggy here all day so snug indoors by the fire and thinking about planting some overlooked plants in my garden next year and wondering what your idea of an overlooked, under used or just considered old fashioned plant is.

One of mine is Leycesteria. I have a couple of well established clumps in my garden which are interesting for most of the year and flower pretty much from spring until now. I'd never seen them before I moved here (perhaps they are less popular in the modern city?), but even in the gardens locally I don't think I've spotted any.

It does seem a bit unpopular as far as I can tell, which is a pity as it's really handsome.

Any you think are unfairly overlooked that you'd recommend ?

 

I like Leycesteria, I love the wine coloured flowers and its bamboo like stems :thumb:, there is a golden leaf form available and a yellow flowered one too.

 

I had one but killed it. They go really well in a tropical themed garden because they have a sort of exotic, tender look.

I'm waiting for gladioli to come back into fashion - well, I know they've never been out with the cloth cap school of gardening, but I want to hear some some earringed and crew-cut snip of a Friday-night presenter rave on about them.

Funny that - we've had cookery programmes presented by hairy, one-legged, dwarf hermaphrodite nuns on camelback in Outer Mongolia but gardening progs are always strictly middle-class, middle-aged home counties. Wonder why gardeners are so traditional?

 

I love that shrub Fens ... had one on the IoW but have never seen it here but I suspect it is too dry as we have no rain for 4-5 months in the summer.

What I have here outside in the shade and have done for five years is an old-fashioned house plant called Justica brandegeeana , the Shrimp Plant and it looks lovely at the moment with our temps being lower in the teens and in our rainy season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justicia_brandegeeana

Nice thread and I look forward to following it and seeing what other people like.

 

A friend was shocked to learn that I like antirrhinums (snapdragons). I gather that being partial to them is something of a faux pas in certain circles. I also like my auntie's prized monkey puzzle tree. You used to see them a lot, but they went out of fashion along with the dreaded pampas grass.

 

Madahhlia, I don't have any in my garden, but you do see them a lot in gardens around here as well as fields and fields of them growing -lots of breeders and wholesale growers in this part of the country as well as specialist outlets. You are in good company with Dame Edna and was it Jarvis Cocker used to stick them in his trousers? :D

 

Victoria, I've never seen one of those live so to speak, just in books. Certainly interesting and have a nice olde-worlde look to it. Will definitely look into if I might be able to grow it.

 

Hi Fens, absolutely with you on thet one - Leycesteria is a fabulous plant, interest for the greater part of the year and a real favourite with the birds in winter. Another favourite of ours are Paeony - a really lovely plant - true the flowering season is short, but what spectacular blooms, and the architectural foliage gives the garden structure for many months.

a-a

 

Hi a-a ... we loved Paeonies also and had a beautiful one when we lived in Bucks . We gave up on it when we came here on our two-week holiday in June and went back to Bucks to find a dying Paoeny .. we were quite distraught! So that was it for us sadly to say. I can't cope with two-week wonders I am afraid.

 

I love snapdragons, but only the big, victorian ones, not the horrid dumpy bedding ones - so I have retained some element of snobbery! Very easy to grow, self-seed, flower their hearts out and a superb range of colours. What's not to like?

Ermm, I think pampas grass is back in - 70s retro planting and all that.

I thought it was Morrissey with a daffodil. But what do I know, it wasn't my era. In MY era flowers were in the hair, not the trouser area!

 

I have a few favourite underrated/unfashionable plants

Auriculas

I think the colour variations are just unbeatable

DSC_0441 by elspethbriscoe, on Flickr

Eucryphia's

fantastic autumn flowering tree which really brighten up dreary days


Eucryphiaceae - Eucryphia glutinosa (Poepp. & Endl.) Baill. by Fundación Jardín Botánico Nacional de Viña del, on Flickr

and finally my old username:

Kalmia latifolia

The most beautiful clusters of upside down umbrella shaped flowers and pink iced gem like buds


Kalmia latifolia 'Tinkerbell' #3 by J.G. in S.F., on Flickr

 

Snapdragons yes they have become rather passe, even hard to get in a decent nursery. Must be very out of favour, but I really like them. As for the pampas grass, well I think we can leave that in the past as far as I'm concerned

Kalmia - I've always wanted one of those, but again it's not easy to get locally (I prefer to buy from a local nursery if I can) and you don't see them often.

I've always wanted a Romneya but have never seen it in a garden or plant outlet, only in a couple of stately home gardens. Does anyone have one ??

 

I have had a romneya for at least 10 years but it never gets any bigger than it originally was. So it never spreads at the root, I get a few lanky stems with a gorgeous flower on top - not the impressive clump in your photo! It doesn't like frost but has always struggled back to life, so far.

 

Ah perhaps that is why it isn't so popular Madahhlia, a difficult little thing. The one that I saw which was flourishing was in the grounds at Sandringham in Norfolk.
I'm considering buying one if it would be happy in my garden, so could I ask what part of the country you are in and your local conditions?

Thanks

 

Not seen often enough for me is Mimulus cardinalis..........
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Reasonably hardy, it will self seed readily too. Seeds germinate early resulting in a succession of blooms from mid June onwards. Does well in damp spots in semi shade.

Tropaeolum peregrinum is a cracking climber.................
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It is susceptible to flea beetle though...........