The yew tree is nicely shaped – but maybe a bit too dark green for your liking. So off you trot to the garden centre to cheer it (and you) up by buying and planting a Tropaeolum speciosum (or flame flower). This relative of the nasturtium is a perennial climber with bright red wee flowers, it’s wonderful. When it grows where you want it to grow, which it rarely does. Plant it by the said yew and it will either die or crop up somewhere else a couple of years later. Plant it by your hedge, it will pop up in your neighbours garden. But, still, give it a go, it’s lovely.

Some clematis can be rather unpredictable. You plant your clematis nice and deep, it still dies. YOU THINK! 3 years later, there it is, growing away happily.

And then there are the plants that lull you into a wrong sense of security.

Persicaria polymorpha is one of them. I love persicarias and couldn’t resist getting this big one. I had been warned that it spreads. Well, it just sat there, flowered and was beautiful and well behaved for 2 years. No bother! And then I turned my back, busy in other people’s gardens… And it had (poly)morphed into the suckering plant from hell. Well, I still like it, but now it grows where it can spread. And the same goes for japanese anemones. They sit there and then they ARE OFF.. Taking over the universe. I am not sure I trust the remark I heard the other day that it only spreads a lot if it is not happy in a place… But I wouldn’t want to be without them either!

picture of  japanese anemones