The six plants I can’t live without
By Judy Lowe | 04.20.09
“That’s impossible” was my first thought when Steve Bender (Southern Living magazine’s Grumpy Gardener and coauthor of the wonderful book, “Passalong Plants“) e-mailed to suggest a “blogathon” in which 10 garden bloggers would talk about six plants they can’t live without. Only six? There are more groups of plants than that — annuals, perennials, bulbs, trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, vegetables, fruits, and roses, plus ornamental grasses, wildflowers, and water garden plants (although, if you’re being picky, those are annuals and perennials). …
And I try dozens of new plants every year. How can I limit myself to six? But, you know, I probably could — if I really had to. I’ve moved around a lot in my adult life, which has greatly enriched my gardening experience, and there are some common threads in all the gardens I’ve created in various places — among them Tennessee, West Virginia, Germany, Massachusetts.
What I look for in a “keeper” plant is simple — it can’t be fussy and it has to look or taste great. The second part needs no explanation — nice appearance and great taste are the real reason we grow anything.
As for the first, I’m not necessarily jumping on the “no maintenance” bandwagon in wanting unfussy plants. I don’t think there’s any such thing as no maintenance, and I doubt I’d like it if there were. But I’d prefer to plant and nurture and pick — not to mention admire and share with friends — than deal with insects, disease, and constant pruning (faults of some plants that might otherwise make this list).
Also, because I’m now an urban gardener — I live in an 1870s rowhouse in Boston — all my favorites have to grow well in containers.
So here’s how my list came out (winnowed down from 50 possibilities). Scroll down to the end of this post to see the links to the other bloggers on the same topic. Did we have lots of similarities or mostly differences? (I know that when I read each of them, I’m going to say, “Oh, I wish I’d put that on mine!”)
Daffodils - I can’t imagine spring without lots and lots of daffodils — all yellow, white, orange-cupped, fragrant, early to late, tall, tiny. I love ‘em all. They welcome spring in such a cheerful way. If I had to choose two favorites, they’d be little February Gold and Dutch Master.
Forsythia — This is a shrub that many gardeners have a love/hate relationship with. When it grows much larger than homeowners think it will, they prune it and prune it (usually by — incorrectly — giving it a haircut), disliking it more and more each time. But I can’t imagine having a yard without forsythia. It says spring to me in a way no other plant does. Maybe it’s the bright color (I just realized that three of the plants on this list are yellow). Probably it’s the shrub’s exuberance. When forsythia flowers, I smile. Even if the weather’s still a bit wintery, those blooms promise that spring is one the way. Can forsythia really be grown in a container? Yes! There are several nice small cultivars, although I still recommend large pots.
Daylilies– What can I add to what everyone already knows about this delightful summer flower? I guess I’d encourage people to try more of a variety of them — rebloomers, for instance, if you’re in the less-snowy parts of Zone 6 and south. Different heights and colors. Talk to someone in a daylily society in your city or one nearby — you might be amazed at what’s available that you rarely see in nurseries. Probably the best honor I’ve ever received was to have a dayily named for me. I’d also recommend an old one that’s completely trouble-free (and with clear yellow blooms, to continue that theme), Winning Ways.
Alpine strawberries - Regular readers of Diggin’ It will recall that I’ve gone on and on about these before. I’ll just link to one of those previous posts and say I haven’t changed my opinion a bit. Small handfuls of tiny, tasty strawberries are a great way to start the day from early June through frost. They’re perennial, they don’t have runners, and yes, I grow them in large containers. Blueberries are a very close second only because you don’t get fruit the first year after planting (important if you’re establishing a new garden). And there are cultivars that grow in containers.
Hydrangea - Ten years ago, hydrangea might not have made this list. True, I loved all the hybrids of oak-leaf hydrangea since my landscape at that time was mostly wooded. But I didn’t bother with other hydrangeas except Annabelle. But then came the reblooming hydrangeas – which are great container plants, by the way — and I fell in love. I think I’ve grown all of the rebloomers (although I can’t guarantee it since more seem to be released each spring) and I’ve been successful with them all. Hydrangeas from late spring through frost — what a great idea. Now I can’t imagine being without them.
Tomatoes- I compiled this list by blooming/fruiting time, or tomatoes would have been at the top. I simply can’t imagine a garden — or a summer — without them. If I were limited to only one plant, a tomato would be it. Fortunately, I’ve never been reduced to that. I enjoy the heirlooms that are popular again but find that often they are troubled by disease and so I can’t count on them for my main crop. The two faves that pop up in my garden year after year are Sun Gold cherry tomatoes and Park’s Whopper.
Now you’ll want to read about the choices of the other bloggers who are listing the plants they can’t live without:
Digging – Pam in Austin, Texas.
Hoe & Shovel – Meems in central Florida.
Fairegarden – Frances in Tennessee.
Defining Your Home Garden – Cameron in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Gardening With Confidence– Helen Yoest in Raleigh, N.C.
Sweet Home and Garden Chicago –Carolyn Choi.
Fresh Dirt – Sunset Magazine, California and Washington State.
Jim Long’s Garden – Jim Long in Blue Eye, Mo.
The Grumpy Gardener - Steve Bender in Alabama.
{Tomorrow in Diggin’ It: New greenhouse owner Alexandra Marks continues her Greenhouse Journeys. This was the first installment.)
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2. Helen Yoest @ Gardening With Confidence | 04.20.09
Hey Judy,
Interesting list! Of course, the tomato! Oh, how we forget; and the hydrangeas, forsythia, daffs…Also good to know all these are excellent pot performers.
Helen Yoest
3. Rose | 04.20.09
I’ve just come over from visiting a few other bloggers who posted on this topic; what a great idea! It’s so interesting to see the different choices among the different bloggers; I’ve gotten some new ideas to add to my garden as well. I would agree with your choices, except I’ve never grown alpine strawberries before. The one plant that I would add to my own list is echinacea, the older and hardier varieties. They symbolize summer to me.
4. Frances | 04.20.09
Hi Judy, what a delightful list. I see we have two in common also. Now why didn’t I think of tomatoes? Like you, it would be the one plant, not counting those deciduous azaleas of course. I think this was a devlish scheme by the Grumpy Gardener to make us try to limit our picks. 
Frances
5. Lisa at Greenbow | 04.20.09
I am with you in that it is difficult to choose just 6 plants. You did a fine job of it. You are the first one I have read that listed a veggie. Happy Gardening.
6. Gail | 04.20.09
Smart choices! Especially edibles! Daylilies are perfect, too…So many and staggered bloom times extend the season. I am trying hard to imagine just 6 plants in my garden…No, can’t do it! gail!
7. shadowsprite | 04.20.09
How do you prune a forsythia?
I have an arching one and prune it as such by thinning it. Definitely understand the love/hate relationship issue with this plant. It is driving me crazy! The arching branches grow all the way down to the ground and grab onto my Rhodie and sneak toward my Limelight Hydrangea on the other side. It is beautiful in April with its lovely arches of yellow flowers. But the rest of the summer it looks like a bad hair-do in much need of a trip to the barber shop!
When it gets windy in the fall the bare branches thrash around in the wind like a ball of whips. I have huge sweeping scratch marks along my fence to prove it.
No way could this plant be grown in a container! I’m almost ready to call Plant Amnesty.
8. Grumpy Gardener | 04.20.09
I’m glad somebody remembered there are great plants we can eat. Yours is a very good list — especially for beginning gardeners. I’ve always thought ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangea was a bigger deal in the North than in the South, because it can get killed to the ground in winter and still bloom. I see by your post I was correct. And thanks for reminding everybody about cool plants for containers.
9. carolyngail | 04.20.09
What an honor to have a daylily named after you and such a lovely one it is as well.
Doesn’t every gardener have a tomato somewhere, no matter how small the garden?
I’m with you on the daffodils and forsythia being the first signs of Spring.
And the hydrangeas. Well, I think I’ve reached my quota with the number of oakleaf, paniculata and serrata.
10. Meems @Hoe & Shovel | 04.20.09
Hi Judy,
So nice to visit here. You have compiled a wonderful list of six plants. What a difficult assignment. It has been as interesting to me reading the thinking behind our choices as seeing the actual choices.
It was really hard for me not include tomatoes since now that I’m growing them I absolutely couldn’t be without them. I have them in pots and in the veggie plot.
Hydrangeas are among my zone-envy plants except for the native oakleaf that actually likes being under my oak trees.
Great post and you did a great job of narrowing to six and defining your six.
11. editorial | 04.20.09
Actually, Steve, none of my reblooming hydrangeas get killed back to the ground. That’s because they grow in large pots that are moved into an unheated garage after the first or second hard frost in fall. It’s cold enough in there to keep them from budding and/or regrowing but not cold enough to kill the upper growth. ‘Endless Summer’ was introduced after I moved North, so I can’t speak to how it does in Zone 7, where I used to live. But it’s definitely a keeper here in Boston.
12. Pam/Digging | 04.20.09
Judy, I’m glad you had daylilies on your list because I wish I’d had room to include them on mine. Several different ones have moved with me from garden to garden over the years, and they’re a sentimental favorite of mine. However, they aren’t quite easy-care in Austin because of our long, hot summer. Extra watering and some shade are often required.
13. Carolyn Hopper | 04.23.09
I would put Lily of the Valley in place of the alpine strawberry for it’s fragrance, the old English song that includes it in the lyrics, and for the memories I have of the little white bells as a child. The other flower I would have to add is foxglove–another childhood favorite. I’m happy to say that here in Zone 4 Montana all the rest do well-except some varieties of tomatoes–so I have been able to have some of the same flowers from Massachusetts to Connecticut, and Maryland to Montana.
14. Uncle B | 04.24.09
I list potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, beets, peas, beans, peppers, turnips, squash and onions as plants I can’t live without, and soon, as the money supply morphs into the really ugly beast it is, and the Chinese and other Asians build even our cars for us, we will all need veggie gardens and aquaponics for fish protein, just to survive, and flowers will take their rightful place beside the kitchen garden, as an after-thought and by product of serious food production! The “Factory Farms” will bankrupt, the capital will flee to greener markets, much as has happened to the automotive section of the U.S.A. and we will face rising food costs, with deflated dollars, one on the way up, the other on the way down, as never before! Remembering that fertilizers are largely petroleum based, we will face escalated fertilizer prices as the OPEC folks try to increase their income by cutting supplies to a minimum, making each drop of oil very expensive, likewise fertilizer for our veggie gardens! Awaken, gentile folk of the America’s, a new dawn is breaking, and we must align ourselves to this new reality and make changes to survive!
15. Shadowsprite | 05.12.09
My Endless Summer hydrangea was gorgeous last year. It was covered in huge blue blooms. I kept telling myself that I was going to take pictures.
Unfortunately, a huge rain storm hit the Pacific Northwest and my hydrangeas suffered horrible. The large blooms became so heavy that the branches were dragged to the ground. As you can imagine, I was close to tears.
I salvaged the situation by using plastic green gardener’s tape and stakes to hold it all upright again so I could take a picture. Soon after that I cut off each flower including a long length of stem and gave bunches and bunches away to all the neighbors. The flowers are so big you can put just one in a vase and feel like you have a whole bouquet!
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1. Cameron (Defining Your Home Garden) | 04.20.09
Judy,
Great choices that most gardeners can grow, too! Wonderful idea to include plants that work in containers… and to include fruit and veggies! I like reading about all the zone and personal preferences from around the country!
Cheers,
Cameron