Don't Take It Personally, Plants: Why We All Have Plant Baggage

Have you ever walked by a garden bed or landscape and immediately had a visceral reaction to a plant? Maybe it reminded you of a childhood garden chore gone wrong, a plant that never quite thrived in your yard no matter how much you tried, or perhaps it just irks you for no apparent reason. If so, congratulations, you have what I like to call “plant baggage.”

Plant baggage isn’t a concept you’ll find in any gardening manual, but trust me, it’s real. It’s the emotional or mental weight we carry around certain plants based on our past experiences, often leading to strong opinions about where—and if—they belong in the garden. A former colleague of mine, a landscape architect, used the term, and it struck a chord with me. Because, yes, I too have a list of plants that, let’s just say, I wouldn’t invite to my garden party.

Let me share a few plants I’ve developed beef with over the years, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll find you have your own unresolved issues with certain flora.

Guyam Lilies: The Poo on a Stick of the Plant World

Guyam lilies are one of those Australian natives that I’ve never quite warmed to, despite their supposed appeal. Their footprint in a garden is huge, and they shoot up a tall central stem crowned with a fluffy red flower that, to me, resembles the infamous "poo on a stick" sculpture at the top of William Street in Sydney. Sure, they’ve got some beauty—until they don’t.

Once the flower finishes its lifecycle, it dries up into an unattractive mess, and eventually, the whole stem collapses in a heap of deadweight, that would occupy for entire green bin. People tend to use them as accent plants, but I can’t help but feel the payoff isn’t worth the aftermath. For me, the mess they leave behind and their inappropriate placements in many gardens have left me with some serious plant baggage. Will I ever plant a Guyam lily? Give me time.

Lomandra - Spiny Matrush: Not Suitable for Playgrounds (or My Garden)

Lomandra spiny matrush is the sort of plant you see everywhere—mass-planted, hardy, and low-maintenance. It’s been the go-to choice for urban landscaping and sometimes still is, especially in playgrounds, because it can survive heavy use and neglect. But here’s the thing: I have beef with this plant.

Why? It’s in the name: spiny. The plant is, quite literally, unpleasant to approach. For a plant that gets used in playgrounds, in myopinion it’s not kid-friendly, unless your goal is to create a prickly barrier that screams “stay away.” Even when you cut it back, it grows unevenly and looks like a punk rocker with a bad haircut. Over time, it becomes a scraggly mess reminiscent of neglected suburban gardens, and I just can’t get past that.

Now, there are much softer varieties of Lomandra available, which are far more appropriate for public spaces. But this original spiny matrush? It’s no longer welcome in my designs.

Geraniums: Sorry, It’s Not You, It’s Me (But Maybe Also You)

Ah, geraniums. These plants are not inherently bad. In fact, they’ve got a long history of gracing gardens with their bright, cheery flowers, especially in the Greek Islands. But I can’t shake the association I have with them—sad, neglected houses where the geraniums seem to be the only thing still growing.

Picture this: a little brick cottage, its garden overgrown and forgotten. The previous owners, an elderly couple, no longer have the time or energy to tend to it, and the geraniums, once carefully planted, now look scraggly and unloved. It’s not really the geranium’s fault, but they’ve come to symbolize a kind of suburban neglect that I just can’t get behind. So, I’ve got plant baggage with geraniums, and honestly, I don’t see us patching things up any time soon.

Agapanthus: The Invasive Border Nobody Asked For

Agapanthus might seem like an easy, attractive choice for a border plant, but let me stop you right there. These plants are an invasive nightmare. They form dense clumps with massive root balls that are nearly impossible to remove once established, and their tendency to escape into native bushland means they’re doing more harm than good.

On top of that, they’re messy. Their tall, slender stems hold up a large flower that eventually flops over and looks, well, untidy. So, while they might start off looking like a good idea, they quickly devolve into a garden headache. This is one relationship I don’t see myself mending.

Plant Baggage: What’s Yours?

I’m sure I’m not alone in my plant-related grievances. Maybe it’s the invasive bamboo that’s taken over your yard, or the ivy that’s creeping into every crack of your fence. Whatever it is, plant baggage is real, and it can seriously affect how we design our gardens and landscapes.

But here’s the fun part—can we repair these relationships? Can we give these plants another chance, or will we always have beef with them? Some plants might be worth a second look in a different setting, but for others, the grudge might be too deep to overcome.

So tell me, what plants do you have baggage with? Share your stories, your grudges, and your plant beef. Maybe together, we can find some peace in the garden—or at least laugh about it along the way.