6 Plants You Can Grow if You Can't Grow Anything

Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar: You bring home a beautiful, new plant to add to your garden, and things are going well until suddenly, they aren't! Unfortunately, sometimes our plants take an unplanned turn to Pitiful Town and decide to take up residence. To those plants, I say, good riddance, you weren’t worth the effort anyway! (I’m looking at you zucchinis). Although frustrating, it doesn’t mean I need to throw down my gardening gloves and holster my pruners for good. No, it means I need to make better selections for the conditions I have to ensure success... But honestly, choosing plants that aren’t too finicky doesn’t hurt either.

Today, I come to you with a list of six plants you may want to consider if you are a baby step away from swearing off gardening for good. While these plants are pretty tough, there is no "one size fits all" solution, and you will need to do a tiny bit of leg work to figure out two key components: what is your light and soil situation like. You want to determine if you have sun most, part, or almost none of the day and if your soil drains well, holds water regularly, or is generally dry. Finding this out will not only save you a ton of heartache, but it may help make gardening the good experience all of those influencer and hipster types keep saying it is.

1. Cast Iron Plant (Aspidistra elatior):

This first plant is one tough cookie! So tough, in fact, it goes by the name cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior). This shade loving plant is a good addition to create some lush filler. It does well under our magnificent live oaks, as well as in pots in dark corners. If you’re someone who can be a bit forgetful when it comes to watering, this plant is for you. As with any new planting though, you’ll want to try to be mindful to remember to water it early on so it gets some nice root growth and can sustain itself easy-peasy.

2. Hosta (Hosta spp. cv.):

Another plant for my shade lovers is hosta. This plant is grown for both its foliage and its flower. The leaves tend to be variations of green and come in various textures and shapes. The one I have pictured below is Hosta ‘Halcyon’, that sports more of a blue-green foliage. The flowers are perched on a stem high above the foliage and make them easy to notice. The one caveat that may make you think twice about planting these comes down to how close to nature you come in your yard - deer tend to love it and therefore devour it.

3. Coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides cv.):

Coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides cv.), not unlike hosta, come in many colors and textures. These are typically considered to be shade plants, but depending on the cultivar, or cultivated variety, you can find ones that will grow in full sun. Finding out the cultivar name is helpful in doing some fast research to determine if it will perform best in sun or shade. The one I have pictured below is one of my favorites and best suited for shade; it is aptly called ‘Fishnet Stockings’. Unfortunately, coleus do not appreciate the frost and tend to not survive the winter. For that reason, we treat them as annuals – and give ourselves a reason to accessorize with new cultivars from year to year!

4. Zinnia (Zinnia marylandica Zahara® Series):

Zinnias are one of my favorites, but it hasn’t always been that way. I’ve been burned by zinnias before. When I was in my second year at Brookgreen, I planted a ton of different zinnias because, in my mind, they all grew well! Not so. Our zinnias had a ton of problems and most of them died. What I later found out was that not all zinnia are created equal and it was very important to look into disease resistant varieties. I am always applauding the Zahara® Series of zinnias. I have yet to be let down. The two featured below are from the Zahara® Series and are Zahara® Starlight Rose and Zahara® Sunburst. I love the flower power from these guys! Like many annuals, these flower constantly from spring up until the frost. Give them sun and they will be happy to cheer up your garden!

5. Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm'):

Black-eyed Susans are a welcome sight in any garden. The bright, smile-inducing flowers are easily planted as a mass to create a wave of vibrant color in the mid to late summer. Give them sun and they will give you beautiful blooms. Added bonus? They are well-liked by dragonflies that will eat up mosquitoes and deer and horse flies. As if you needed another reason to love these guys! Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm' is pictured below.

6. White Ginger Lily (Hedychium coronarium):
Mm, mmm! I can’t help but love the sweet fragrance of white ginger lilies (Hedychium coronarium). It’s one of those scents you can conjure up in your memory which, while delightful, is still best experienced in person. These tropical-looking plants are versatile and can take sun to part shade, and also do not mind a slightly moister soil. In late summer to early autumn, you can’t miss these tall stalks of white flowers and, of course, their intoxicating fragrance!

Gardening, like many other endeavors, can certainly turn from fun to frustrating in the blink of an eye. Trial and error is the name of the game, but hopefully some of these easier to grow plants will make your experience the one we all want it to be: fun and, excuse the pun, fruitful!

See you in the gardens!