lol....funny. I have a lot of schinus and eucalyptus and I'm used to the scent, so I don't notice it, but when people come here they ask what the wonderful 'lemony' smell is...I had a friend here yesterday and that's the first thing she asked...told her it's the eucalyptus citriodora and I have seedlings if she'd like some....lol...she gave me a loud, resounding NO!. They're both useful here, though and I love them.....

Jacaranda. I love to see it, but it's so messy!

Jacaranda. I love to see it, but it's so messy!

I love the Jacaranda also, but if people would treat them for aphids they would get rid of the sticky mess. I would put one up on my slope if I could get water up there.

I enjoy seeing different plants of color and texture not the normal plants everybody has house after house and block after block...so I guess there isn't much I see that I would want.

I wouldn't have a euc either. Sometimes on windy days I wish I could cut down all the dry neighboring palm trees...aka torches around here.

Jacaranda. Lovely but they break in the wind around here.

Sweetgum. Color fanastically in the fall but prone to dieback and toppling in wind.

Bradford Pear. Solid with white flowers in spring, gorgeous fall color but prone to self destruct when they reach a certain size.

Bougainvillea. My garden had a massive old San Diego Red for many, many years, and the display of bold color was almost continuous. However, as I age and consider the future, I decided to simplify the garden, so the annual weekend on a ladder pruning this enormous beast had to change. Gone, and no regrets;, but I still love the sight of a bright, rambling bougainvillea -- in OTHER gardens.

Canary Island date palm -- these massive palms are so impressive and iconic of California, but are best viewed from a distance.

Forgot Morning Glory. Wow is that blue-purple color amazing. However, have seen them completely engulf a two story house. Owners had to get tree trimmers and a bucket lift to save the house.

Excellent lists from all, please do continue!

Cup of Gold vine. What a wonderful flower and lovely green leaves- but I don't have a full-time gardener.
Wisteria. Oh, how I love it!
Auracaria (sp?) trees- the perfectly green symmetrical ones that grow to be as tall as a Gothic cathedral.
Lady Banks roses. Especially climbing up Italian cypresses.
Weeping Willows. Ah, but the size, and the aphids.

And agaves, agaves everywhere, and yuccas! Ouch.

Mostly just big trees that have a beautiful presence, but would create too much shade, drop constant leaf litter, have very aggressive surface roots that suck up all the available moisture. From a northern California perspective that would include our Coast Redwoods, Monterey Pines, Eucalyptus globulus, Canary Island Date Palms and Mexican Fan Palms, to name a few. I'd probably include messy fruiting trees with sticky fruit such as Pittosporum undulatum or Arbutus unedo, but I actually do have these in my garden. I concur that Brugmansias can be a lot of work to keep the mess under control, but it is another plant I'm willing to put up with even so. Clumping bamboos, another constantly shedding plant, but I do love them, especially my Otatea acuminata aztectorum and Himalayacalamus hookerianus with the powdery blue trunks. Bougainvillas are much more restrained here, so I don't find the annual pruning such a chore, especially as I am a saturated color junkie...

Silk trees. So perfectly shaped, such ferny foliage, heavenly scent, beautiful flowers. And such a mess.

Liquidambar trees are beautiful in Fall, but the roots lift sidewalks.

Morning glories -- they cover houses and the seeds sprout EVERYWHERE!!!

Heh heh...I grow here an awful lot of what you guys don't want.....

Heh heh...I grow here an awful lot of what you guys don't want.....

wcgypsy, Yours is that OTHER garden we all enjoy! :)

lol...I'm not neat and tidy...I put up with the mess....

We grow morning glories as well as Jacarandas,and princess flowers,bougainvilla.All are messy but we planted them mostly on the lower yard in the back,except for the one bougainvilla,but dh keep that trimmed up into a manageable size.
I like some of the messess,like the princess tree flowers fall to the ground and look like purple velvet carpet,i let them stay there til they start to look ugly,then i rake them up,same with the jacaranda,and the pink bougainvilla.
Kathi

Yes, I like the 'mess' on the ground. Looking up our drive, I like the carpet of Cape Honeysuckle spent blossoms, then a carpet of jacaranda blossoms. I like the damp leaves beneath my feet making woodland paths after the rains and it all makes a good top layer, mulching and enriching the soil...but then, I have no concrete to worry about keeping clean.

I love Jacaranda flowers on grass. At UCLA they have them at the Sculpture Garden, which is also planted with a lot of blue agapanthus. What a beautiful thing it is when it is all in bloom.

I have the dratted morning glory and my is it gorgeous!

I'm with wcgypsy in that I love 'messy' plants. The carpet of leaves/flowers makes for a foresty look to me. I have messy sycamores. They are not very big -yet. I look forward to the day they make a deep, weed smothering carpet of big leaves.

Yep...got the messy sycamores too...lol..liquidambers that others hate for their sputnik balls, I love for their Fall colors...anything you guys don't want, you can just send to me.....

Like everyone else - bougainvillea, morning glory.

Oh, and green lawn. We gave ours up for a cottage-style garden. Actually more work (a lot of hand-weeding!) but less water, and my DH hasn't had to buy me flowers for the last ten years. Hmmm...maybe that's not such a good thing?!?

and my DH hasn't had to buy me flowers for the last ten years. Hmmm...maybe that's not such a good thing?!?

Tell him jewelry is a perfectly acceptable substitute. Or garden center gift cards--even better! ;)

I call my morning glory "Jumanji"! So pretty but soooo much work to keep under control. You can practically watch it grow. Black and blue salvia....Takes over and impossible to get rid of. And Jasmine......way too sweet! And I agree on the Bouganvilla! What a mess!

Big beautiful cactus gardens in bloom. Prickly pear fruit is beautiful and delicious, but the only cactus relative I grow are the pots of epies hanging in the trees. Passion vines are wonderful for butterflies but I don't have the space. I love a mint selection but that plant covers ground as fast as archangel. I'm chasing down the last of the four o clocks and replanting with tamer salvias.

Yes I've been trying to get rid of 'Black And Blue' Salvia for several years. Last year filled an entire 95 gallon trash barrel with just roots and tubers and it's all back again, though not quite as dense. So beautiful, so evil...

I like Opuntia and those enormous Puya masses too--at the Huntington...