Mexican petunias in the cement cracks.
What are you sorry you planted......Part 2
Mexican petunias in the beds. Does anybody want Mexican Petunias?
Wow, I was struggling to grow ruellia and put some in pots. It did not do well for me so I was considering putting it int the ground. THANK you for saving me that mistake. Heck, it's not THAT pretty!
Nobody mentioned lilies of the valley, at least in this thread. When I started my condo garden I asked for some. They have spread unbelievably and no matter where I dig there are roots. I also have polygolatum variegatum (solomon's seal) and galium odoratum (lady's bedstraw), and chelone (turtleheads), all of which are garden thugs but have made it possible to donate them to our condo shade garden. As the shade garden is planted in terrible soil, anything that LIVES is a bonus! I also planted 'Freckles' violets, so sweet and innocuous looking, but those green summer 'flowers' at the base shoot her offspring to the far-flung reaches.
Vinca minor and ornamental strawberries "lipstick" and "panda" have become the bain of our existence. They took over every bed in which they were planted. Also, yarrow invaded from next door via and completely took over our lawn.
The only ornamental strawberry I grow is fragaria vesca reugan, which does not send out runners. They pop up here and there in response to - well, let's just say rabbit and bird consumption. If you can imagine, White Flower Farm was selling 3 plants for $19.95. I got the seed from J.L. Hudson, and I use them as edging plants (the berries are small but delicious).
But somewhere a creature slipped in an inedible strawberry (hard little yellow strawberries) and it started spreading by runners. When I realized it had runner I ripped it out everywhere I had planted (thank heavens it had not gone to seed) but allow it in my micanthus Morning Light bed. And still, as it sneaks around, I rip it out.
Sneaky little plants!
No one has brought up turf, but the bane of my existence is Bermuda grass - it spreads by runners, underground and by seed. I don't care how wonderful it looks in the heat of summer, I will never buy a house again that has even a hint of it.
Well if we're going to bring up grass, I got a load of dirt from a landscaper when I re-placed my septic tank and it had Nut Grass. Talk about a serious invader. I've been at it for 4 years now. Landscaper swears it wasn't the dirt, but it has stayed inside the rock edged raised garden we built for natives and cactus. I have pulled and pulled, tough-ass little runners, I have used black lawn cloth under mulch, I have used freshly chipped cedar which slows lots of weed down but can't be by tender plants unaged. The best was several layers of newsprint, wet down and covered with the cedar mulch, but any little spot around the neck of say a mountain laural or the sage, it stars there and works out. The rest of the area, the septic folk covered in loam and seeded Bermuda without asking me. I got $100. from them for seed "of my choice" and was treated like an ingrate to boot.
Ugh - nut grass is another one. You have my deepest sympathies.
As per my quandry with "mexican petunia" vs Ruellia, here's my pic. The white is common Petunia, and the purple is sold around here as "mexican Petunia", every year, at several nurseries.
Calibrachoa? They call that Mexican Petunia? LOL, what's next. I know them as 'Million Bells'. Here comes the argument about common names again, lol...
I agree with others on disobedient plant, and it's mostly gone from my garden.
I once planted a yellow-flowered lamium which is taller than others (don't know its name), which is thankfully also now gone from my garden, but my neighbor, who wanted some of it, is now battling it behind her fence, and it's taken over a huge area.
I definitely agree on the artemisia. I never planted the stuff, but am battling it coming through the fence from my neighbor's yard, and it's also taken over some common perennial plots in my community garden. Can say the same for ajuga.
I'm also mostly rid of chameleon plant, which pops up all over the place. Still need to rid my community garden plot of japanese lantern plant, which also decided to come up everywhere, though so far no lanterns despite its boldness.
And I've gotten rid of most of my forget-me-nots, though I love the flowers. I'm hoping the brunerras will not seed so readily as the other kind.(myosotis?)
Wow - I've put in a total of 9 myosotis, and I only got one to bloom. Weird!
That one can make you hundreds of babies, Donna, provided you've got some bees around.
uh oh - i planted "Miss Manners" obedient plant last year. I'll have to see if they survived the winter.....
Cindy, I have Jack Frost and Looking Glass. Do you consider these variegated ones? And if they do reseed, will they be true to parent?
Snowlinerose, I couldn't believe there was a (dis)obedient plant called "Miss Manners", so I had to check, and yes, there actually is, unless I'm dreaming. It's supposed to have a clumping habit and be non-invasive, so if this is actually true, it may have a spot in my garden someday.
Oh, that's why - when myosotis blooms here the bees are scarce, but if they are around, they make a beeline (pun intended) for my crocuses. You can just see them going berserk in those big yellow anthers.
CindyMzone 5, I agree with you. I got one plant of what I thought was adenophora to replace one I had lost, and I think I got c. ranunculoides. Those little suckers are now everywhere (at least, everywhere that the lily of the valley hasn't invaded). They seem to have little tubers along the roots, which makes them almost impossible to eradicate.
Perenniallyme, I have never had troublesome reseeding from Jack Frost or Looking Glass.
My variegated obediant plant has behaved itself admirably, but you have to pull revertants fairly often.
I think any revertant would be trouble.
I had a terrible experience with common milkweed, so now I'm reluctant to plant any other asclepias (other than a. tuberosa, which isn't weedy at all). If others know which other species are safe to plant, I'd love to plant them to attract butterflies?? But snakebit once, I'm afraid to chance it.
My worst invasive nightmares were never invited into my yard - running strawberry, nutgrass, eurasian honeysuckle, vinca, euonymus vine, grape vine, virginia creeper, wild onions, ornithogalum, and a bunch of others whose names I don't even know ... It's a jungle out there !!
Thanks, weerobin. That's really good to know.
Sure is a jungle out there! I forgot to mention Star of Bethlehem. I don't know its other name. It's taken over sections of the community garden. When we dug to plant our raspberry patch, I swear there were hundreds of bulbs per square foot if not thousands. Your wild onion reminded me. Wonder if they're in the same family.
I've only had asclepias tuberosa til this year, but started a few other milkweeds from seed over the winter. Not exactly sure what, as they came from the piggy swap, but guess I'll find out next year if they're invasive or not.
I remembered another one - Galium/Sweet woodruff. I had the prettiest bed of creeping phlox around my crabapple and planted one little spot of galium by it two years ago. This year it has totally invaded the bed and most of my creeping phlox is nowhere to be seen. And that is a huge bed. I was so upset this spring when I saw what had come up that I decided to get the trusty Round-up out and go to town on it. You know, that stuff is coming back!
pagancat
Thanks for your sympathy and your indentification of my Calibrachoa.
I said on another thread that for the last couple of years I've been keeping a notebook and paying more attention to proper plant names, etc. I have to say, this one never comes with it's proper name.
I have found a nursery that uses local and national growers that include common and proper names and care info. They go a step farther and put a 2"x4" sticker on the pots with what they experiance as that plants needs for Austin in particular and they include all the names. Super helpful, because for example "full sun" in Austin frequently means you need some protection from late afternoon sun.
Perenniallyme, Star of Bethlehem is the ornithogalum of my nightmares. It is everywhere in my yard.
I am trying to pull the bulbs and sequester the seeds, but I'm not sure I'm making progress.
An ongoing struggle.
As for sweet woodruff, mine is OK so far. I want a sturdy groundcover to help prevent erosion ... so far, it hasn't become a nuisance, but other peoples' experience makes me worry a little. I'll have to keep an eye on it.
Have to jump into this to confess to mistakenly planting obedient plant. It is now 12-14 years later, and I am still finding it springing areas of my garden nowhere near where it was originally planted. My next door neighbor even occasionally finds it in her yard. I consider it a fair trade, as I am still finding the chameleon plant she once planted in her yard popping up in my beds! It's a good thing we are friends and tolerent gardeners LOL
Weerobin, you absolutely truly have my sympathies on the ornithogalum!!! I can't imagine how you could get rid of it except maybe by putting all of your topsoil through a sieve, foot by foot. I have no idea how something can make so many bulbs - 10,000% germination rate? Maybe your state or local agricultural commission would have some idea?
The one plant that I have been trying to keep in check is the purple colored Japanese anemone. They spread by underground runners and they are everywhere. I have special weeding days just for them several times a year to keep them in check and they keep popping back. I made the mistake of planting them in about 3-4 areas like I do with all my plants just to see where they thrive the best, and needless to say, the Japanese anemone took hold in all the places....... They are pretty, but I only want a small patch of it. The white ones don't spread nearly as much. On a positive note - I think I have confined my obedient plant to one small manageable patch next to my compost pile. Lol.
I have anemone "robustissima" and it definitely is robustissima, and does spread like crazy, but I love it anyway. (Cindy, you might want to try it). Just have to keep digging bunches of it up. It's a lighter pink than yours, soils. Do you know which one you have? I've tried a few of the pinker, deeper colored ones, and they don't seem nearly so hardy or prolific. Think I lost "bodnant burgundy".
My anemone 'Victor Jones' seemed like it took forever to get established. I started with 2 or 3 small plants; my patch this year is about 6' in diameter and I am trying to remove some. It's been challenging because it's growing under a tree, and trying to get between the tree roots is complicating the job. I wouldn't consider this an invasive plant, though. Sounds like other varieties may spread more quickly.
My anemone "September Charm" started out as 2 or 3 small plants. Last year I moved the 'parents' and 'daughter' plants to the back of my border because they get soooo tall. Now I have them in the back AND front of the beds, since every single one I thought I moved came back in exactly the original spot.
Can you believe I managed to kill a pot of evening primrose? My sister gave it to me when she moved and I knew enough to keep it in a pot. It stayed green in the garage over the winter, and died as soon as I brought the pot outdoors this spring. Talk about a black thumb! :D
The lamium mentioned above is Yellow Archangel and it is aptly named. I put it under a huge evergreen and it behaved well, did just what I wanted it to do. Anywhere else it is horrid!
PL - I am not sure which variety it is - I got it from someone who had excess. Before I got this white one, I asked the owner how long she has had her patch, and how often she has to "weed." It was true to her word - spreads some, but can definitely be controlled. After the blooming period, I just yank out the ones that spread beyond their allocated area. They do not tend to form as many fibrous roots that spread out underground. They are also about 2 feet taller than the purplish-pinks. These are definitely not invasive, but spreads freely.
Funny, I asked for Anemone x hybrida Honorine Jobert, and four were installed in1998. They did really well.
It established immediately. And they tend to spread. But they were installed with myrica pennsylvanica, which tends to sucker, and keeps them somewhat under control. And I love them to death. I just rip out the excess.
I notice some gardeners say that they cannot establish them, while others say they can't control them. It has taken me YEARS to establish Wirbelwind (the double version) but Robustissima, which I deliberately avoided, turned up in a perfect place so I didn't zap it, but I have to tear out stems every couple of weeks.
This message was edited Jun 18, 2010 6:55 AM
This message was edited Jun 25, 2010 7:28 AM
Ditch Lily, Fulva, Quanzo all are pretty ernough on their own but. have taken over big parts of my yard. I have pulled up all I could find in these areas but they have taken over big parts of my yard. Like them I have always liked the Fumaria Fulva, but its ferny leaves and little yellow flowers have spread everyware. Still another pretty blue plant which looks good but spreads everyware is the ground cover Veronica
Hmmm. Maybe my other anemones are slow starters because I got most of them mail-order as small plants. I think I'll find out this year, but definitely hope that if they take off they'll still be more contained than robustissima.
I avoid anything that's a "ground cover" in the description or if it says "grows from stolens".
I think all vendors should tell you if they could possibly be invasive as well as we "traders".
I went through my soil to get rid of lily of the valley and obedient plant. I fight violets all the time. They are in my grass and I leave them alone, however, I don't want them in my gardens. They will take over. I also was "gifted" some bermuda grass along with a white crepe myrtle my brother gave me. It did not show up for ten years. There must have been one little root. My husband has sprayed it twice this season. Nutgrass is a constant battle here. We get it in mulch.
I did not realize some of the above plants were invasive. I have considered growing some of them, especially the C. pantaloons. I think it's so cute. A "cute" flower can turn real ugly when it's invasive.
Before I purchase seed or plant, I try to do research regarding it being invasive. This thread is quite helpful.
I have forgotten about the violets - I pull them out as a matter of course - it has become such a habit that I don't even think about them. When I see any, I pull them up. Somehow they have invaded my lawn too.
So, I guess I'm the only person treating this as a "recommendation" thread, then! :-D
No, but seriously, some of the plants on this thread scare even me (I will never ever plant Campanula rapunculoides), but others sound really useful for me! I'm rehabilitating a long-neglected garden out in the woods, and I don't have a lot of time or money to garden. So I want plants that will survive without much fussing over and will stand up to the constant pressure of wild weeds that want to take over the place, and that will expand fast enough that I won't go broke buying plants. A. robustissima sounds perfect for me, for example! I don't mind if the garden looks like a jungle -- as long as it's a colorful, blooming, fragrant jungle.
(Remember how I said I wanted obedient plant? Turns out I got some for free this spring and didn't even know it! An elderly lady of my acquaintance passed some along and said it was one of her grandmother's favorites, but she didn't know the name of it. She had a huge bed of it. Now that I've seen obedient plant foliage in one of the pictures here, I know what I've got, and I can move it out of the mixed border and into the wetland. Yay!)