Your favorite low maintenance plants

[ChanellG]

My parents planted a few forsythias in their garden around three years ago and they're still rather small. We once had a large forsythia, but it was a very old shrub. Anyway, the more you prune it, the better, it will produce more flowers
The best thing about forsythia is that you can cut a few branches in late winter or very early spring, bring them home, put them in water and they'll bloom I always do this when I really miss spring
As for Persian lilac, I've never seen it in person, but I've just googled it and it doesn't look like the lilac I know.

I saw a plant that looked like forsythia outside the neighborhood nursery. If I get a chance I may go in next week and ask about it. I like the idea that you could get blooms in winter simply by taking a cutting and bringing it indoors in just water. This plant is becoming more and more appealing.

Not sure why they call that tree Persian Lilac; it's just one of the "common" names for what most people in this country just call China Berry. It smells nice though.

 

[ChanellG]

I think that some of the flowering vines are pretty easy to care for...
One of my most favorite vines is called the Moonflower Vine. The leaves are heart shaped, and the huge flowers are a luminous pearly white color, and it has a delicate (but wonderful) fragrance. It opens up in the evening, so you can enjoy it along the porch or fence line when sitting outside during the evening.View attachment 2601

I am looking into honeysuckle and Jasmine. Someone gave me moonflower seeds recently; I have them in my wallet for a while, but now I have mislaid them. I have an idea where they could be, but I just keep forgetting about them. I'll have to hunt them down!

 

[Trellum]

I love succulents! I want to create a dish garden of succulents indoors, or maybe a small terrarium. I have chicks and hens and also aloe vera; he just got an aloe on a recent trip to Lowes. We were walking back to the car this morning after his 10k run, and I pointed out the cast iron plant growing around the base of a tree. I told him even he can't kill that one!

Glad to hear this is actually helping you get closer guys, I guess having a lot interests in common is really important! A dish garden of succulnts sounds like a very beautiful idea If you go for it, then please make sure you take some pictures and share it with us The cast iron plant would be a wonderful pick, I'm sure not even my boyfriend would be able to kill it

 

[forextraspecialstuff]

Putting my votes in for mums, geraniums, pansies and if you are willing to go outside of plants that are just there for aesthetic reasons I would suggest mint. All of these require little care and even my boyfriend can take care of them. The other thing is he doesn't consider any of these to look too girly (whatever that means) so he is also very proud of them and likes to show them off. We have also planted these not only on our larger garden at my Mom's house, but also in planter boxes for our apartment garden,

 

[claudine]

I saw a plant that looked like forsythia outside the neighborhood nursery. If I get a chance I may go in next week and ask about it. I like the idea that you could get blooms in winter simply by taking a cutting and bringing it indoors in just water. This plant is becoming more and more appealing.

Not sure why they call that tree Persian Lilac; it's just one of the "common" names for what most people in this country just call China Berry. It smells nice though.

I'm wondering if it smells like my lilac. It's one of my favorite scents, it's very, very sweet and pretty
As for forsythia, it's a lovely shrub. The only problem with it is that outside, it blooms only in spring. During the rest of the year, it doesn't produce any flowers. It still looks nice though

 

[lemonzest]

I am looking into honeysuckle and Jasmine!

Ooh, jasmine is great and smells lovely in the summer evenings.

Another good trellis plant (although you can grow it in pots and other ways too) if that's what you're looking for, is bougainvillea. Basically I seem to be recommending everything that was in our garden when I was little

 

[ChanellG]

Putting my votes in for mums, geraniums, pansies and if you are willing to go outside of plants that are just there for aesthetic reasons I would suggest mint. All of these require little care and even my boyfriend can take care of them. The other thing is he doesn't consider any of these to look too girly (whatever that means) so he is also very proud of them and likes to show them off. We have also planted these not only on our larger garden at my Mom's house, but also in planter boxes for our apartment garden,

I definitely want to add pansies at some point, as well as petunias. Mint is also a good idea; I have a plant I divided a while ago so I have some extra and I've been meaning to take it over there so I can have access to it when I'm there.

 

[ChanellG]

Ooh, jasmine is great and smells lovely in the summer evenings.

Another good trellis plant (although you can grow it in pots and other ways too) if that's what you're looking for, is bougainvillea. Basically I seem to be recommending everything that was in our garden when I was little

I would like to have bouganvillea, but it needs a lot of space. I dye fabric and bouganvillea is a good plant for making dye. I'd love to have space for it to go wild all over a wall or a fence so I would be able to harvest enough flowers for dyeing. ...One day

 

[lemonzest]

I would like to have bouganvillea, but it needs a lot of space. I dye fabric and bouganvillea is a good plant for making dye. I'd love to have space for it to go wild all over a wall or a fence so I would be able to harvest enough flowers for dyeing. ...One day

Oh wow, I didn't know that was a thing. I have a friend who recently moved into a place that has a huge bougainvillea in the front and she's definitely a fiber arts type person, I'll have to let her know.

 

[ChanellG]

Well, I mention to L that I was thinking of putting a bouganvillea in the back corner and letting it go wild up the wall and fence and he was totally into it. Guess I'll look for one reasonably priced the next time I'm at the garden center. I picked up a few more plants on sale yesterday, and our little raised deck (actually, there are two, both made from palettes) is coming along.

 

[JGPangi]

For fragrant plants, we usually don't look further than oregano. It is extremely hardy and can stand being forgotten for a few days (though I hope not for very long!)

Another easy-to-grow plant (around here anyway) would be hibiscus. Just a little pruning here and there and you've got yourself a beautiful shrubs with amazing blooms.

 

[Rosyrain]

I like the small rose bushes you can keep in a pot. They are beautiful and I have found them to be very low upkeep if you want to add some color to your garden. I usually buy them from the grocery store and all you really need to do is water them and pull out an occassional dead leaf. Good luck with your shrubs!

 

[LindaKay]

I have found that overall, I do best with "green plants." Plants that flower seem to be much harder to care for, but maybe it's just me. And obviously, succulents and cacti are very easy to care for.

 

[ChanellG]

For fragrant plants, we usually don't look further than oregano...

Another easy-to-grow plant (around here anyway) would be hibiscus.

I have both of those. We don't get a lot of fragrance coming from the herbs though. Eventually our gardens are going to merge, but for now I'm looking primarily for showy foliage and fragrant blooms for garden #2. I just put in a baby Asiatic Jasmine vine and some other great plants, and now I am looking for summer bloomers.

 

[ChanellG]

I like the small rose bushes you can keep in a pot. They are beautiful and I have found them to be very low upkeep if you want to add some color to your garden. I usually buy them from the grocery store and all you really need to do is water them and pull out an occassional dead leaf. Good luck with your shrubs!

I have small roses he gave me for Valentines Day. I almost lost them when I hurt my back and they didn't get enough attention for a week. When I repotted, I found there were 6 plants in the one small container. I separated them and two of the six withered do to dampening off after a bad storm, but the remaining 4 look pretty good. I'm waiting to see when and if they will re-bloom.