Kim at A Study in Contrasts: NIMG: Not In My Garden! suggested as a meme Not In My Garden, a list of things I admire but would not want in my own garden. So here is my list:
1. Major water features
This one I saw on a local garden walk. It had a big, beautiful waterfall. I don't think I have room for such a water feature and it looks like a lot of maintenance. Finally, there is a large retention pond behind my garden which provides for the local wildlife.
2. Market umbrellas - it looks great in the above photo, but, again, my garden style just doesn't have a place for them.
3. Japanese gardens - my garden is in the Midwest, and it looks it. In addition, it would be too difficult to confine myself to such a narrow plant palette.
4. Roses - they are beautiful, and some, such as the David Austin rose 'Sharifa Asma,' have a heavenly scent. I just don't want to have to deal with the Japanese beetles (that's what my Rose of Sharon is for) and the fertilizing and other regimens that go with roses. Moreover, any rose I grew would have to be scented. Sadly, NIMG.
5. Gladiolus - they are too stiff, so that I find them hard to use in a mixed border.
6. Tropicals - as shown in the last photo of my "Walkabout" post, tropicals, such as Corydaline, can be beautiful. They are just too much work for me, and they seem out of place in my naturalistic gardens.
7. Grass paths
Too much upkeep and mine would never look this good. My paths get too much use.
8. Birdbaths
Can you say "mosquito magnet"? Then there's the cleaning, and who knows what the raccoons would do with it. It's bad enough finding bits of half-eaten toad in the garden.
9. White gardens - Sissinghurst is beautiful, but, most white flowers age to a ratty beige. I try to avoid them, however,
this beauty can stay. Anemone 'Andrea Atkinson' sheds its petals before they turn brown.
10. Delphiniums - me trying to grow Delphiniums is like being a Cub fan: each Spring starts out with such hope, only to end in bitter disappointment come Fall. I long ago gave up on both.