Chicagoland - those chartreuse spireas. And Knock-out roses are everywhere this year.

Nepeta/cat mint -- especially the median on Lake Shore Drive! There may be too much of it around now, although I love the color.

Stella d'Oro lilies! They are EVERYWHERE! Don't people realize that masses of that plant look dreadful by the Fourth of July and stay that way for the rest of the season?

I agree with the chartreuse spireas with the pink flowers. They are nice plants, but they are everywhere. I don't have any spireas, and I moved here from Arizona, so I didn't even know about them. But people say they always seem to be overused, no matter what kind is the latest cultivar.

One lady I know complains about those old-fashioned big white ones that Victorians used to use at the foundation of their huge-tall porches. She says those used to be everywhere. So it looks like people have been very fond of spireas for a long, long time.

I agree w/the Stellas being everywhere, enough already!!! I'm sure they can be nice in a mixed planting w/complimentary companions but most often they are just massed by themselves. Masses & masses & masses of cheez-whiz Stella everywhere I go, it's killing my eyeballs :) Seeing a lot of Knock Out roses also, they seem to be the new darling of commercial landscape designers.

Stellas and Knock Out Roses, with those pink blossomed spireas. Usually all together. Ewwwwwwwwww.

LOL, CheezWhiz Stellas! That's a good name for a cultivar!

Today I drove past a very long line of them -- about two blocks long. They look pretty, but I can't think about that. All I can envision is how they will look three weeks from now -- until the end of the season. Blecch.

Here in Oak Park, it's tiger lilies galore! You can't give them away (I couldnt' anyway) - so many homes have them!

Around here, everyone has a wedding veil - false spirea? - bush.

Proven Winners plants - even Lowe's has them.

Klimkm - We visited the Chicago area recently and I was wondering what type of roses were blooming so well up there. I saw a lot that had been used in commercial areas that were the same red. I bet they were the Knock-outs. Do commercial landscapers use them a lot up there? I can't remember seeing any here. Wish our landscapers would catch on.
Mophead hydrangeas are putting on a show here around homes (not businesses). Mine are small. Still waiting for them to mature and flower heavily. My Annabelle hydrangea is BEAUTIFUL this year though.

I agree with the Knock Out roses...especially the blush KOs. Too much, way too much.

We have a flood of stellas, spireas, black eyed susans, pink shrub rose and yews planted by every landscaper around (all nice plants; just overused).

This year I am seeing the landscapers moving to knock outs, pampass grass and purple heaucheras -- a shame really, because I love all of these and will begin to dislike them when they show on every new landscape bed.

Patricia

Stellas, nearly wild roses, and russian sage. I still like all of them, but they are everywhere.

Golly ..........How sick am I of all those petunia in like a zillion pucky colors or the vinca's that looks like splats of color ...........
When we go to Home Depot they blind me and I have to stay way back .............
Or how about the gardens that have to many Marigolds .........makes me cringe ...........
I put them in my veg garden but like to grow the interesting colors not the nasty same oh stuff ...........
And don;t some folks have just a ton of those lillies --have they no imagination ??????????????[yeah those darn stella onces again ...........]
Anyway enough of my winging
Janice
The Brit

Stella are indeed overused, but in Commercial settings, they do well, as they are salt tolerant. Happy Returns is another alternative, not so Cheese Wizz in color, more lemon yellow.

Spireas are over used, but again, are almost maintenance free. Nearly Wild, Knock Out Shrub Roses are popular, but in SE Wisconsin KO's took a hit last winter.

Bridal Wreath Spirea is the old fashioned spirea, but gets BIG (6-8' tall), so not as popular today.

Another plant coming on real strong in Endless Summer Hydrangea, which *promises* color (not just white), and blooms on old and new wood. Jury is still out.

wdheller

Yep, echinacea is everywhere. Same with black eyed susans. I confess, I have some Knock Outs, but only because the Jap. Beetles don't ruin them. And I always laugh when I see hostas line a sidewalk, but there's nothing else anywhere in the yard except grass. Strange proportions. Do we have a lot of these all-too-common plants because, shucks, someone gave them to us and we had to do something with them? Yep, me, too.
Aunt Peach in Elgin, IL

Geraniums! Ugly red geraniums everywhere. And pots with geraniums and dusty miller and lobelia. Most people only plant what they can get at Wal-mart! Thankfully I don't have any!!

Lee

I guess people in this particular small town aren't quite as garden crazy as I am. It's red mulch and rocks I'm seeing everywhere. It makes me cringe. Why not get purple and blue mulch too? Just as unnatural and unattractive.

I have a little cottage next door with a garden I don't tend as much as I should that I did plant red geraniums with vinca in the window boxes. Except for one that gets no water from rain (or me) they look great. I'm not a fan of geraniums and never will be but they're easy.

I'd rather see a sea of Stella in the median than endless, water-starved grass. I'd rather see geraniums and dusty millers than nothing. I just can't complain about flowers.