9 Popular Plants That Aren’t Worth the Hype

Plants serve a lot of purposes in our daily lives. They clean the air, provide food, and look beautiful. They uplift us and can improve our mental health better than any medication. Some even garner extensive media coverage for their uniqueness. 

Yet, many plant species are just not worth the hype. Some are invasive, while others serve no purpose but to frustrate us. What’s worse is that many of these plants are popular with gardeners around the country. 

Although this list is subjective, there are a lot of reasons why you should reconsider growing these popular plants. Below are the nine common plants that aren’t worth the hype. 

Bradford Pear

	botanical name Pyrus calleryana
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 30-50’
	hardiness zones 5-9

Bradford pear is an ornamental tree that’s not worth the hype. Sure, it has beautiful white spring blossoms. But they smell like the streets of New Orleans after Mardi Gras. Imagine walking through a beautiful park, only to smell urine, stale fish, and something rotten. 

Besides its smell, Bradford pear is invasive. Many cities across the country grow them as ornamental trees. In these areas, they spread out of control and compete with native varieties. They are more aggressive than native plants and will use up water and nutrients. 

On top of these problems, they’re extremely breakable. Their brittle branches will snap in half during storms or even the slightest snowfall. So if you want to grow Bradford pears in your home garden, maybe think again. Try growing a cherry tree or any other stone fruit. These trees smell pleasant, produce fruit, and look amazing. 

Thorned Blackberries

	botanical name Rubus fruticosus
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 4-20’
	hardiness zones 5-9

With so many wonderful varieties of blackberries and raspberries, why not choose thornless instead? Thorned blackberries are a pain to grow and harvest. Their razor-sharp spikes can lead to bloody cuts and infections if untreated. 

In places such as northern California, invasive varieties such as the Himalayan blackberry grow wildly. You’ll see them outgrowing native species in forests, front yards, and gardens. Good luck pruning these monsters without strong gardening gloves like these. 

If you’re making lethal yet edible fencing for the ultimate survival garden, these thorny monsters will work just fine. Otherwise, plant thornless varieties such as ‘Arapaho’ and ‘Columbia Giant’. They’re easier to grow and easier to harvest, making them perfect for edible gardens. 

Butterfly Bush

	botanical name Buddleja davidii
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 2-12’
	hardiness zones 5-9

Butterfly bushes produce colorful purple flowers. They also invade tons of landscapes throughout the US. They spread rapidly and compete with native flowers and perennials. The slightest gust of wind scatters their lightweight seeds easily. Once the seeds establish themselves in the ground, they grow extremely quickly. 

If you plant these invasive plants in your garden, it’s only a matter of time until they spread to your neighbor’s yard. When that happens, they’ll outgrow the other plants and drain the soil of nutrients. Before you and your neighbors know it, the butterfly bushes have taken over. 

To make matters worse, they attract swarms of mosquitoes to feed off their sweet nectar. When native pollinators that benefit your garden feed on the nectar, they won’t get the full benefit of native plants. So instead of planting butterfly bushes, try planting milkweed, bottlebrush, buckeye, or edible herbs. 

Rhubarb

	botanical name Rheum rhabarbarum
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 3-8

Rhubarb is a delicious garden favorite, especially in cold climates. However, if you don’t live in a cold climate, this plant is incredibly hard to grow correctly and may not be worth the hype. In my home state of Michigan, I grew big and beautiful rhubarb plants with little problems. However, when I tried growing them in my garden in southern Kyushu, Japan—zone 9b, I failed miserably. 

Another problem with these plants is their size. They overgrow small gardens and become incredibly difficult to control. Before the end of the season, they’ll take up almost an entire garden bed. 

Instead of planting rhubarb, try growing strawberries instead. If you harvest strawberries early enough, they’ll retain their acidity and taste much better than rhubarb.

Wasabi

	botanical name Eutrema japonicum
	sun requirements Partial to full shade
	height 6″-1′
	hardiness zones 6-10

Wasabi is my favorite vegetable. If you’ve never tasted fresh wasabi root or leaves, you haven’t lived. As delicious as this Japanese root vegetable is, it’s incredibly difficult to grow. 

You’ll need the right growing conditions to get it right. Even then, you’ll probably fail and fail again. The best producers in Japan have often been growing wasabi for generations. In these microclimate wasabi gardens, producers work with the landscape and cool marine-influenced climate to cultivate these semi-aquatic perennials. 

If you’re a beginning gardener or even an advanced horticulture expert, wasabi may not be worth the hype. Try growing horseradish instead. However, if you want the ultimate challenge and live in the right climate, try taking on this fantastic plant. 

Napa Cabbage

	botanical name Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height Up to 12”
	hardiness zones 4-7

Napa cabbage is delicious and fun to use in a variety of dishes such as kimchi and Japanese nabe hot pot. Although it serves plenty of culinary uses, it’s not always the easiest plant to grow and isn’t worth the hype for warm-weather growers. It loves cold weather, so if you live in a warm climate zone with lots of humidity, you may have trouble with this vegetable. 

It also is notoriously prone to insect attacks. Everything from earwigs to aphids will see this beautiful cabbage as a sitting duck. You’ll have to spend a lot of time patrolling for pests and dealing with their infestations. After the season ends, you may harvest your cabbage, only to find it infested and inedible. 

Instead of growing napa cabbages, try growing other types instead. Bok choy, kale, and broccoli are great alternatives, especially for fermented recipes like kimchi. 

Celery

	botanical name Apium graveolens
	sun requirements Full sun
	height Up to 36”
	hardiness zones 3-6

Celery is a popular vegetable and one of the staples in European cuisine. It’s also healthy and adds a pleasant crunch to many exciting dishes. Although it’s delicious, the plant is notoriously hard to cultivate. 

First, it’s hard to get the seeds to germinate. When they do, the growing conditions, soil, and temperature have to be just right. If it’s not cool enough, the plants will fail to perform. Too cold and you’ll barely get any growth at all. Add on over 130 days to mature and you’ve got one finicky plant. 

If you love celery, by all means, try growing it. But if you’re a new gardener, this plant may not be worth the hype. There are other nutritious and easy-to-grow vegetables out there. Everything from kale to spinach will be more flavorful and less stressful to grow. 

Cucamelon

	botanical name Melothria scabra
	sun requirements Full sun
	height Up to 10′
	hardiness zones 2-10

Cucamelon is an exciting plant for novelty gardens in most regions of the US. However, these plants may not be worth the hype because of their sour taste and overgrowing nature. 

Many gardeners grow this vegetable, thinking that it’ll taste like a combination of cucumber and melon. Instead, they’ll get a mouthful of sourness. 

Instead of growing cucamelon, try growing cucumber and melon instead. They’re easy to grow and always taste delicious.

Pineapple

	botanical name Ananas comosus
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-4’
	hardiness zones 10-12

Pineapple is one of the world’s most popular fruiting plants, but is sometimes annoying to grow and not worth the hype for most gardeners. It needs a warm, tropical climate and plenty of space. It can reach up to 4 feet high and just as wide. The largest plants will reach close to 6 feet. If you don’t have the space, good luck growing this crop. 

Besides its height and intolerance to cold, it doesn’t produce a lot of fruit. You need tons of space, patience, and resources to get it to thrive. 

I’ve successfully grown small pineapples in zones 9b and 10a, although I had to cover my plants in winter with portable cold frames. If you really want to try this tropical fruit in your garden, you can. Just make sure you give them all the attention they need and of course, warm temperatures.