Robustissima is pretty pushy. But it is very amenable to being caually ripped out - you just reach down and tug. But it's not for the gardener who only looks around every month or so. Still don't know how it got into my garden. It's as though it dropped from Mars.
What are you sorry you planted......Part 2
When you said dropped "dropped from mars" I had to laugh. My unplanted invasives usually come from bird or deer poop. I have Nandina everywhere and it would take big bucks to eradicate it. I'm on 5 acres, so I keep it back from our "kept" areas but I can't get them all. The deer nibble all the lower leaves and someone asked if I was making them topiaries, like I'd have time for that!
Ligustrum (sp) is another, all intermingled with the cedars, unchecked (we cut all we can at 2" diameter) they'll get 30' tall and they are trash wood and suck up water, again, I can't get them all, groan.
Donna, the anemone seeds are very small and light and cushioned in cottony stuff. I imagine they could be carried a long way on the wind.
Hmmm - I think I have 'September Charm' - kinda pink/peach, blooms late summer. It took a long time to get established and it does roam a bit. I've tried others but they just didn't make it. I think they need a little coddling the first year or two.
Ditch lilies - yeah, I've pulled out just about all of mine but a few bits of root remain to start growing again. I do have a clump at the rear of the lower garden, isolated and far removed from more desirable plants. I think I'm sentimental about it though as my dad gave me some of his to start my gardens here 20 years ago. I was grateful (at the time) for freebies (including the now-dreaded C. rapunculoides).
Avoid planting spiderwort at all costs! Had a nice clump of it last year that I'd planted in my flowerbed. Came back everywhere this year, all through the flowerbed, some new clumps came up in my lawn too. Dug up the original clump, had to dig and "follow" a runner the length of the flower bed. Dug up all the clumps from the lawn. Have read that if even a teeny piece of root is left, it'll be back again next year. Very, very invasive plant.
Huh - interesting. I have a rather big clump of spiderwort but it hasn't spread from the original plant at all.
Edited to say: Ooops, cross posted with you, Cindy!
This message was edited Jun 18, 2010 10:15 AM
The ones that "spread" for me was 'Zwanenburg Blue' and some other magenta-colored one. In fairness, it's probably because I dug around them when they were dormant and didn't realize that I actually dug them up. Neither one of those is very robust after all these years of neglect.
'Osprey' - another favorite - seems to stay put.
I also have a spiderwort that is found in other areas than where it was planted. Babies everywhere!
Thanks Perennial. I could never figure it out. It is beautifully placed - smack in the middle of a bed. I would have preferred Alice or September Charm. But you really can't dictate what floats into your yard.
Wonder it it depends on the type of Spiderwort you have? Have read that "Sweet Kate" is a smaller variety suitable for home garden. Mine was really tall (not Sweet Kate) and extremely invasive.
My spiderworts are no longer anywhere close to where they were originally planted.
They definitely reseed all over the place.
And mine are now all purple, which I presume is their generic color.
But they're pretty easy to pull, so not too much of a nuisance.
I generally leave them be.
As I posted on the invasive plants forum ,the obedient plant is my no.1 enemy . I think they are also known as pink dragonflowers and false snapdragons, depending on where you buy them. I planted six of them three years ago and the next Spring ,I had at least 150 or more. I dug and gave them away ,but to this day I am still plagued with them. I've read that the white flowered version of this plant is nowhere near as invasive as the pink. I'm leaving that up to someone else to find out. The pic is not very good, but I would advise anyone seeing this "monster" to stay far,far away.
Believe it or not, I'm sorry I put in daylilies. The payoff is not nearly what it should be for the real estate investment. Ornamental grasses would be prettier, and they would crowd out my other plants for sun. It might be that I put them into the wrong location, but I'd never plant them again.
Before we bought our home, the previous owner foolishly put chameleon plant in one of the gardens (houttuynia). It sets up hairlike runners, and it is next to impossible to contain. I try to keep up with the blossoms so they do not reseed. She also put in some kind of artemisia-like weed with a woody root that I cannot contain. It seems to take over, and I find it growing in entirely new places all the time.
Wow, Cathy, I've never heard anyone else say it. I have NO daylilies - I must be the only one in my community. They just don't capture my imagination, and they do take up a lot of room. I do have tons of grasses, and I just love them. These are about ten years old.
This message was edited Jun 25, 2010 7:25 AM
verbena bonasaris --- it is everywhere --- everywhere ----- everywhere----- from one little sneaky clump
My verbena bonariensis has behaved itself so far ... now I'm worried.
Yes verbena b is the kind of plant you only have to start once, because it seeds. But the seeds tend to form in clumps and they are really easy to scratch out. It's the kind of plant where you will see 30 seedlings in a square inch. Getting rid of it is easy. I encouraged it until it became too much, and then just started pulling the plants before they went to seed or scratching the seedlings out. One nice thing about it is that it has a small root system. I found that nicotiana alata, for example, has a root system so big that you can dislodge adjacent plants when you pull it out. Not so verbena b. And it attracts the black and yellow monarchlike butterfies - are they admirals, in droves - hummingbirds too.
DonnaMack, I love your grasses! I have a wall of sea oats, and am replacing turfs with ornamental grasses.. I love Mexican wire grass as it is low and gets golden and feathery on the tips.
Cathy166, I agree, lilies take up too much square footage...I have a large lot, but not much in the sun so I hold it to Agapanthus.
I have sea oats too. Have to watch the little devils - they pop up in other places, but are easy to remove.
Yes Donna the Verbena B do have small root systems and pull out real easy. But the darn things are growing everywhere. Far from where I planted that one clump (yes you are right - for the butterflies) - they start up everywhere. Grateful that they come up with a tug but regretful that the plants are spread out everywhere.
DonnaM, great shot, yours are huge! What is the burgandy plant in the forground, some one just gave it to me at about 4" tall and it's 12" in a week in the ground. She didn't know the name but said it is bushy needs sun and wil be about 2'x2'. Any info please.
Sylguy, I'll bet it's a Cotinus Velvet Cloak or a Cotinus Royal Purple. Love 'em - easiest plant in the world to take care of. I have two other kinds - Cotinus Grace and Cotinus Nordine Red. But it will definitely be bigger. But - don't you love it - you can chop it to the GROUND in spring and it will spring back up with lots of leaves. If you want the plumes, no chopping.
And Missingrosie, you are absolutely right - they do come up everywhere they touch where the soil is bare. But thank goodness not in the lawn (like milkweed - yuk!). Scratch out those seedlings!
Donna
I think I'm going to have to cut my smoke bush to the nubs next year - my first year I did a really lousy pruning job and it's been pretty ugly since.
You can cut them virtually to the ground in the spring and they will grow back in weeks. I have done it when part of the plant was damaged by mowers. It's an incredibly forgiving plant, but I've noticed it tends to spring back from where you cut it, so please bear that in mind. Sounds like a fairly good chop would work will. I've chopped to 8 inches.
Good morning,
I've been following this thread and appreciate it so much! I recently bought Milkweed A. curassavica Red. Is this one that you all have found to be invasive? I'm in central Mississippi, on the line of 8a/8b. The plants are now in my butterfly garden along with several types of Salvias, Coreopsis, Yarrow, Daylilies, and Becky Daisy. Should I be scared?
Anne
I would so love to have anemome growing in my garden! I have just the spot for it, and have been trying to get hold of a plant for ages, but somehow the garden centres just don't know what I'm talking about... they always show me to the anemone bulbs/corms. :-)
One day, hopefully, I'll have some to show off...
I look at the Verbena b. and am tempted to plant it, but I had read it was invasive. I have a tremendous amount of dill that comes up from seed every year. I like it, but man, any plant that re-seeds like crazy can become unpopular fast! I am trying to get larkspur to re-seed. Instead, I get dill, dill, dill!! And, it looks a lot like larkspur when it first sprouts. I love the larkspur. BTW, does anyone know where I can get some larkspur seed to plant this fall? It always shows up in stores in the spring. It's suppose to be planted in the fall. Sorry, off topic.
Hi ADB,
The one I had was a very common plant. The one on which the flowers are round and pink. I used to see them and pull them out, but last year I let them get established and they pop up in beds and the lawn.
Sounds like you have a cultivar - what a complex name. My guess (hope) would be that they bred out the undesirable traits. Invasiveness for me aside, it's a lovely plant.
This message was edited Jun 24, 2010 9:34 AM
While most of the plants mentioned on this thread might grow here, they're a far cry from invasive - it makes me wonder what it would be like to garden in a place where these plants actually ARE invasive, lol! I'd be in trouble if I ever moved back to the Midwest!
Verbena b. is pretty invasive around here but they leave room for the plants because they are so lanky like I just pull the seedlings to make room for more plants I just have to have that for my hummers. When I used to sell plants I remember when I first started growing the verbena and I had it in pots the hummers would be mad at me for moving it on them just to water it lol
You know one thing that hasn't been mentioned that I can see is the butterfly bush I have seedlings popping up every where all the time all year long from my butterfly bushes! I'm constantly picking them out of my potted plants and if I don't weed around a flower bed for a couple of weeks or more (he he he) I have a three foot butterfly bush before I know it there! And in my beds we won't even talk about that!
Rose of Sharon.....comes up everywhere. I planted "Blue Satin" and I have found so many little plants....they come right out!
I'm sort of in agreement with the posters above about daylilies. I went through the daylily craze phase years ago and planted lots of them. Then I noticed so many of them look alike and especially when planted in masses-they look like a sea of mud.
But I wouldn't be without a few of my best ones. I use them now as accents here and there mixed with other shrubs and perennials. Now they shine as stars when they are in bloom and when they stop there are other plants nearby to hold my interest.
I'm beginning to agree with the comments about daylilies. Although I break the rule often, planting in 3's is becoming too much when it comes to daylilies, especially in the cramped half-sun bed (I'm mostly shade). If it weren't raining and I didn't have other priorities, I'm tempted to go pull out a few of them.
Rose of Sharon is another one for me too but like you said they are easy to pull up usually someone is ready to take a seedling of those though if it's a little taller because I hadn't seen it or it snuck somewhere it was able to grow for a while but I love my Blue Bird! They have the pink and lavender ones across the street so I've been pulling ROS seedlings for a few years now lol
The butterfly bushes are easy to pull too if I find them in time if not I have to dig them up!
I'm moving daylilies this fall I'll keep that in mind about planting like you were talking about just as accent plants killdawabit, I like that name lol I don't have that many daylilies anyway but I'm sure it will be too many when I go to move them digging them out of this nice clay!
I have some daylilies in a lot of shade and the blooms are prettier Cindy, I dread putting them in the sun I know I won't see as pretty blooms in the scorching sun. They must like that area because they have multiplied like crazy that's why I have to take them out they are crowding my shade plants way too much! No matter if you grow them in the shade or sun they still multiply like crazy!
Haha. You should see my daylily compost pile. It's about 3' tall and 6' wide.
I like the daylilies for erosion control. It's a pretty easy plant for erosion control.
LOL I can't do that to them but I can give them away :) It's just not in me to throw perfectly good flowers away lol