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Plants that make you feel happy!

(97 Posts)
nanna8 Fri 02-Oct-26 07:37:00

Our wisteria has just started to flower out the back . A sure sign of Spring for us. It makes me feel so happy looking out of our back door. The camellia bush is also in full flower, another pretty one though it drops the flowers everywhere all over our deck.
Which plants do you find lift your spirits ?

nanna8 Sat 03-Oct-26 02:15:16

My avocado just died. It became pot bound ( very big pot ) and one of the roots blocked off the drainage hole. It reached about 8 foot and I am sad it has gone. There are one or two little ones growing in the garden but I don’t get fruit, too far south . I chuck the seeds out and some take, some don’t.
It is raining heavily today which is nice for us in a dry country.

hollysteers Sat 03-Oct-26 01:58:49

Hollyhocks in cottage gardens, irises, triggered by Van Gogh’s paintings, agapanthus, roses and so many more.

win Fri 02-Oct-26 20:01:55

petra

Like most of us Gardners I love them all.
But if I was told I could only have one it would have to be my beauties Agapanthus.

I have a very healthy plant like this but it has sadly not flowered for a couple of years, used to get 2-3 flowers on it but never more. I have had it for around 5 years, what can I do to improve my care. It is in a large pot.

Crocus5 Fri 02-Oct-26 19:36:41

I look forward to seeing all the Spring bulbs in bloom~ Daffodils, Crocus,Snowdrops, Grape hyacinths, Tulips.
I’ve enjoyed looking at my patio with its cheerful pots of Busy Lizzies. They’ve been colourful all Summer and still looking good.

Cath9 Fri 02-Oct-26 19:26:59

fancy flowers I also have a magnolia Yellow Bird but kept it at a low height. I also have a purple flower magnolia and one with mixed colours.
I really love my rhododendrons with huge blossoms.

Patsy70 Fri 02-Oct-26 18:32:22

The Hosta! 😊

Patsy70 Fri 02-Oct-26 18:29:50

I only chose to mention the roses as they were personal. There are so many beautiful plants, trees and flowers. Thank you for this thread Nanna8, it is so close to my heart, as I’m sure it is to everyone else who is commenting. My best friend has a beautiful garden, overlooking a lake in a lovely Kent village. We buy each other plants for our birthdays, both in early May. So I have a fantastic Hosta, which is in a pot and the pot is in a copper tray - no slug/snail damage at all. Also, a fragrant Daphne and an Agapanthus. I currently have Sedum rooting in a vase, which I will pot on. I love Acers, Aquilegia, Peonies, Daffodils, Tulips, Clematis and so many more. Gardening helps to keep me sane. 🌹

TillyTrotter Fri 02-Oct-26 18:20:16

What a lovely Hubby !
My taste is quite simple - daffodils and tulips in Spring, fragrant roses like this one in Summer.

AskAlice Fri 02-Oct-26 18:15:28

Gaura for me. They have really proved their worth this year as they are so drought-tolerant, but I have loved them for a few years now. Like mini-butterflies dancing in the breeze, so pretty! I have both the pink and the white varieties.

Also Choysia, the small leafed variety. It puts on a spectacular show in late spring, and is now flowering for the second time. Smells delicious! Again drought-tolerant and as an added bonus it is evergreen so gives a bit of structure in the winter. Very compact and slots in well in smallish spaces.

fancyflowers Fri 02-Oct-26 18:02:08

I love my Magnolia Yellow Bird tree. It has a short flowering season in May, but sadly didn't do very well this year. It doesn't like wind, so the weather probably played a part in its poor show.

I also like tulips - for me, the showier the better. Also double daffodils and roses

Grandma600 Fri 02-Oct-26 17:39:09

Love my white lilac! I get very excited every spring when it starts coming to life again. Its lovely scent wafts across the garden and makes me feel very happy

Delene100 Fri 02-Oct-26 16:43:15

HobbyCat

I’m guessing this thread isn’t about the UK…

Nanna8 mentioned Spring and its Autumn in the UK. I think she is in Australia.

Delene100 Fri 02-Oct-26 16:41:36

My Wisteria is around three years old but has yet to flower. What can I do to get some flowers?

knspol Fri 02-Oct-26 16:30:49

For me it's the daffodils, tulips and the other bulbs that come up in the spring signalling the start to another year.

Coconut Fri 02-Oct-26 16:06:03

I planted avocado stones and now have an enormous plant growing !

CarrotTop Fri 02-Oct-26 15:53:39

Cardoons. They're tough as old boots, they're dramatic to look at (mine reach 6'-7' tall) and they're no trouble to maintain - no fancy footwork, just zap the stems with loppers in autumn, then wait for the new shoots. Best of all, the bumble bees go crazy for the flowers. I never blanch and eat them, preferring to give them up to the bees, but in case of emergency at least we'd have something to eat.
I also love wisteria (traditional mauve), lilac (ditto) and day lilies (so much variety!). Sadly, no chance of growing any of these here, except a few day lilies in pots (hit-or-miss whether they survive).
Oh, and forget-me-nots. Cheeky little beggars come up all over the place but I just can't bear to grub them out.

albertina Fri 02-Oct-26 15:46:18

For the first time since my children were small I have grown sunflowers this year. Every time I looked at them I smiled, such wonderful bringers of joy.

winterwhite Fri 02-Oct-26 15:42:06

Snowdrops, foxgloves, and hollyhocks when grown in the right places.

Emelie321 Fri 02-Oct-26 15:29:09

My mother planted a Zephirine Drouhin against the back wall of our family home. I have one growing up an arch which in season I can see flowering from my kitchen window.
You all mention many wonderful plants. Hard to choose! In my garden I have a blue agapanthus that ages ago seeded itself along a crack at the base of a west facing side wall and produces more blooms every year.

But I love our wild flowers best.Yes to primroses and violets. And to toadflax later in the year. I am lucky to live not far from an unspoilt coastline, and on a nearby cliff top every May there are many early purple orchids to be seen.

Milest0ne Fri 02-Oct-26 15:21:03

Snowdrops for me. I miss my lovely acer which would have been red. yellow, orange and green now but died in the dry weather last year.

Casdon Fri 02-Oct-26 15:18:27

missdeke

Generally, it's unadulterated flowers, that bring me joy. Daffs that a yellow with a normal sized trumpet and petals for instance. Basically how they evolved in nature not bred.

If you drive down the M50 at the end of March, there are hundreds of thousands of the little native daffodils on the verges and in the surrounding woods, it’s a sight to gladden the heart.

cookiemonster66 Fri 02-Oct-26 15:10:32

I’m a massive fan of the movie Little Shop of Horrors so was beyond excited when my hubby found me a little Audrey in a shop in Glastonbury last weekend 💜😈💜 “Feed me!” 💜😈💜

grandMattie Fri 02-Oct-26 15:03:23

When we first got married, we moved houses lot. Living in Jersey, husbands whinged with each other that their wives were after (VAT-free) jewellery and cashmere jumpers. Dh said, “with my wife it’s simple. She would like to live somewhere long enough to see her wisteria flower”!
I live most flowers - easier to ring those I don’t like much…. Chrysanthemums, very scented lilies, cacti, not many tbh!
I’m very fond of english bluebells which flower around my birthday

missdeke Fri 02-Oct-26 15:02:02

Generally, it's unadulterated flowers, that bring me joy. Daffs that a yellow with a normal sized trumpet and petals for instance. Basically how they evolved in nature not bred.

Casdon Fri 02-Oct-26 15:00:15

I like plants that move and shimmer in the wind, so acers, eucalyptus and silver birch are my favourite trees. I love cosmos, narcissi, snowdrops - and pompom dahlias, although they are unlike any of my other choices, I think they are fascinating.