Nicky Haslam reveals the popular flower that makes your garden look ‘tacky’ as he continues to wage war on all things common

Interior designer Nicky Haslam has shared his list of garden pet peeves, including a popular flower that is likely growing in your backyard. 

The curator of all things too common to bear, Haslam said he cannot stand red roses in the garden – along with other plants such as berberis, rhododendrons, sunflowers, and conifers – in an interview with The Telegraph. 

He also relegated red hot pokers, aubretia, and copper beeches to gardening purgatory.

Red roses are acceptable when picked and displayed in a vase, Haslam added, making a design concession for the flowers widely associated with romance, passion, and devotion. 

The 85-year-old, whose ‘common’ tea towels have become a cherished holiday tradition, revealed the design trends that can make your garden look tacky. 

In addition to picking red roses and rhododendrons, Haslam said he hates the look of modern garden sets because they look ‘too much like airport furniture’ and declared Lloyd Loom furniture is ‘definitely too common’. 

Instead, he recommended wooden or iron benches – jazzed up with cushions, mattresses, and rugs – for a more sophisticated style.

The curator of all things too common to bear, Haslam said he cannot stand red roses in the garden

When it comes to picking eye-catching accessories and ornaments, Haslam advised against knick-knacks, such as ‘Chinese lions [and] stone frogs’. 

He suggested hunting down unique artefacts in antique shops and reclamation yards, and on sites like eBay. 

Large stone urns are acceptable decor items as long as they are never planted, he added. 

He also highlighted that, while plants can help set the mood in your garden, it is important to consider how they are arranged – not just what kinds of plants you have growing. 

Instead of letting your plants grow recklessly in a wild garden that Haslam deems ‘quite boring’, the furniture designer and socialite recommended informally organising them into large groups. 

Some of his favourite plants include the stinking iris, that can be found blooming in Britain all-year round, white foxgloves, white pansies, and the Stokes’ aster ‘White Star’. 

While Haslam adores white flowers, he recommends steering clear of yellow-coloured blooms. 

Earlier this month, Haslam released the sixth edition of his infamous ‘common’ tea towels in collaboration with Selfridges. 

Haslam, 85, took aim at dairy-free alternatives, destination weddings and yellow bags for this year’s edition of his ‘The Latest Things Nicky Haslam Finds Common’ tea towel 

He began releasing his tea towels, titled ‘The Latest Things Nicky Haslam Finds Common’, in 2018 and has since produced a new list of ‘common’ qualities every year, just in time for Christmas.

This year, Haslam teamed up with Selfridges to release the 2024 tea towel which retails at £50 (up from £18 when it was first released in 2018). 

Unveiling this year’s tea towel to the Sunday Times, Haslam, who is based in the Cotswolds, declared that his controversial list should be varied enough to upset everyone in some capacity as he took aim at dairy free alternatives, destination weddings and yellow bags (in which the products will be sold by Selfridges). 

He even put Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour on the list for her daily routine, which she has shared on a number of occasions and involves her going to the gym and getting her hair done.

Among those considered lower class by Haslam are people who rescue dogs; suggesting an adopted pooch is now akin to a ‘Birkin bag’.

He revealed his method for devising the tea towel each year is by jotting down ‘common’ things throughout the year that have irritated him.

While many people will likely flock to Selfridges in their droves to pick up one of Haslam’s tea towels, he will certainly ruffle a few feathers too.

The socialite’s 2023 list poked fun at grieving and the Northern Lights, prompting Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis to take to X (formerly Twitter) to brand Haslam a ‘prat’.

This may well have been noticed by Haslam, who ensured ‘insisting on discounts’ made the list this year; with Lewis known for helping consumers find the cheapest deals possible on bills and every day spending. 

Haslam’s 2018 list, the first he produced, included breakfast meetings, swans, hedge funds, mindfulness, Bono, intensely private people, Woman’s Hour, The Proms and central heating.

Speaking at the time, he said: ‘No one is allowed to have opinions any more and everything has to be PC.

‘There is no individuality — even buildings are starting to look the same.’