# What plants can you not grow, and where? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 9, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023 "2003-05-09T01:53:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/21 "2003-05-09T22:32:24Z")
I saved and rooted some Mother In Law’s tongue. Found it thrown out in a flower bed at the Deaf school, Handy. 🙂 Gave one to my boss and you’re right, she hasn’t killed it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/22 "2003-05-09T22:47:54Z")
Sorry, what is Mother In Law’s Tongue, and where can I get it? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/23 "2003-05-09T22:58:30Z")
I’ll be happy to send you a cutting. Found one on the floor just yesterday that I am rooting. 🙂 [Sansevieria](http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Agavaceae/Sansevieria_trifasciata.html) ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/24 "2003-05-09T23:00:32Z")
Cool. Thanks. And this I can grow, huh? I’ll try it, but I think you’re being overly optimistic. You are speaking to a woman who killed a cactus. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/25 "2003-05-09T23:05:09Z")
Email me with an address, I’ll cut off some leaves and send them. You stick them in wet potting soil, put them in a room with a window and leave them the hell alone. 🙂 I think the term is “water infrequently”. I hit the little rooted guys once a week or so. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/26 "2003-05-10T00:45:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \* > \*\*You’re supposed to have a Medeterrania climate for Rosemary. > A guy across from the campus has a _hedge_ of the stuff. > I hate him. 🙂 \*\* I live in central Texas, and the Rosemary bush we have in the front yard grows like a _weed_. Seriously. It gets watered occasionally at best, and we never tend to it otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/27 "2003-05-10T00:53:23Z")
I hate you, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/28 "2003-05-10T01:50:07Z")
Pansies. They remind me of my maternal grandmother, who used to have gardens full of them. I plant seeds outside, they wilt and die as little tiny sprouts. I plant seeds inside, same thing. I buy them already grown, they die within a couple of days. It makes me sad. I also can’t get pumpkins to \* thrive\*. The vines grow large and lovely, but I end up with golf ball to softball sized pumpkins, no matter what size they were intended to grow. if any grow at all that is. For some reason we get 95% male plants every year, and no female ones until late August or September. It’s uncanny. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/29 "2003-05-10T03:21:30Z")
Thyme. Plain old thyme, of any variety. In the ground, in containers…they all turn gray, brittle and then croak. Same with tarragon. It just gets wispy, keels over and croaks. Oddly enough, I practically have to club down the African Violets that belonged to my mother. (One white violet is from a rooting grown by my grandmother.) No lie, two of 'em–the white and a deep indigo/purple–are a foot across. Far from being fussy, they seem to thrive on my neglect. The perverse suckers didn’t even croak when I _transplanted_ them. I just water 'em every week or so and keep the dead flowers/leaves plucked off. Go figure. Veb ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/30 "2003-05-10T03:28:28Z")
I’ve discovered that to get violets to flower you get them very dry. Perhaps they think they are going to croak and want to leave some genetic material behind. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/31 "2003-05-10T04:28:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TVeblen \* > **Thyme. Plain old thyme, of any variety. In the ground, in containers…they all turn gray, brittle and then croak.** Hmmm…thyme? We have tons of that growing wild in our yard. Can you plant wild thyme? It seems indestructible. We also have wild blueberries, but the birds always get them first. ☹ (\<-- sad blueberry?) The only plants that live in my yard are wild ones. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/32 "2003-05-10T04:35:16Z")
My apartment is also a plant death zone (thought there is a hydrangea that I’ve had for a month that is not yet dead… I’m sure in time.) I’ve killed cacti, spider plants, phylodendron, the unkillables. A week with me and they lose the will to live. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/33 "2003-05-10T13:07:59Z")
I had no luck with African violets until someone told me to get an African violet pot, which is basically a pot in a pot. You plant the violet in the inner pot, which has holes on the bottom, and sit it in the second pot. You put water in the outer pot and the violet sucks up the water from the bottom. Place it in an East window if you have one, fertilize on occasion and voila! I _finally_ got one to bloom just before Easter after years of no success. 🙂 Plants I’ve had no success with: ferns and those wonderful big potted palms. I have a family room that is very big and sunny and both look great in it. I don’t know if my house isn’t humid enough or if I’m giving them too much sunlight, but they start dying almost immediately. I threw in the towel and got silk ones, but it’s just not the same. Oh, and word to the wise: Don’t ever grow dill in your garden. They call it dill weed for a reason. I thought it would make a lovely feathery accent and the thing has taken over the whole freaking garden. You pull it out and it grows 5 more plants that sprout up everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/34 "2003-05-10T18:28:08Z")
I’m ashamed to admit it, but despite my username, I have killed two ivy plants that were in pots inside my house. I also planted some tarragon in my window box and it promptly died. The chives, parsley, and thyme are doing well though. So’s my bamboo and my porthios. ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/35 "2003-05-10T18:49:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \* > \*\*Beagle: It’s providing the domant period. \*\* That’s certainly true. I apparently killed mine with hamburger. In my defense, I was about 11 years old and there was no internet. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/36 "2003-05-10T20:13:52Z")
They almost made it when they were in with the Sarracenia. Too wet. This year I think freeze/thaw occured too often. ---
**Author:** ![BadBaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71c47a/32.png) [@BadBaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BadBaby)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/37 "2003-05-11T00:00:17Z")
I can’t grow ivy either, and lately I’ve become a killer of violets. In my last apartment the light was just right for violets and I could grow ridiculously gorgeous plants. In my current apartment I’ve learned that herbs just ain’t gonna work 'cause the heat from the window fries them and the shade on the balcony starves them. The reason I mention this fascinating tidbit is because the conditions forced me to search out tips on **rosemary**. Rosemary hate to get completely dry, once or twice and it’s a gonner. They tolerate overwatering only a little better. Topiaries can be the most difficult to keep alive because they can be so pot bound their roots have a tough time absorbing water. So now I just go get my fresh rosemary from my aunt. Her entire back yard is prostrate rosemary, surrounding the pool. ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/38 "2003-05-11T05:53:10Z")
I’ve had mixed results–sometimes my thumb is green and sometimes … well, the thumb of death! LOL At work, I have plants galore, most of which are in great health. Most. I have a Christmas cactus that won’t bloom, but that may be because it’s not getting enough light at the right times. I have an African violet on my desk that I keep under a flourescent light that stays on – I water it from the bottom and it has flowered many times. 🙂 Now I have had several plants that had gotten “top heavy” and I tried to tie them to stakes… but the stalks ended up breaking off. ☹ One I was able to save, the other looks like it’s gone, but the parts of the plant that remained behind ended up sprouting, so it was only a partial loss. Several of my plants were “rescues” that I was given by others, some of which were near death when I received them but are flourishing now. Now at home, it’s another story–my windows are on the west and north, and I don’t really get much sunlight. I have several snake plants (mothers-in-law tongue) that are doing okay now, but I did manage to kill (overwater!) one that had been flourishing. ☹ And I killed an aloe plant when I tried to transplant it! Honestly, I think the aloe does better when you neglect it. Most of the plants that are doing okay sit under lamps that are on a lot. I have several philodendrons in my bedroom; the one that gets the plant light is flourishing, while the other which only gets occasional sunlight is looking … well, sick! I can’t explain how I’m able to keep great plants at work, yet nearly kill em at home. Must be something to do with the light exposure. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/39 "2003-05-11T07:48:12Z")
I can’t believe nobody has chimed in with “I just can’t grow pot…the police keep taking it away!”. Poppies. My favorite flower ever and I have a dismal track record with it. If you want a plant that will never ever ever die, the cockeroach of all plants, the plants that laugh at draughts and nucleur holocasts, get a Trumpet vine. WHATEVER YOU DO: put it in a pot. This plant will take over your yard and you will grow to hate it with a passion. It has completely ruined my fence and is over taking my yard. Next sumer we are going to have to till the entire yard to get rid of it. -Babs, owner of a house who’s former owners decided to plant a trumpet vine. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023/40 "2003-05-11T15:13:55Z")
Trumpis radicans? Hummingbirds like it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-plants-can-you-not-grow-and-where/174023.md?page=3)