You'll wish you had never planted.....You'll be so glad you

I found a solution. I'm a master gardener, and I have a wonderful mentor who has a Prairie and Rain Garden, and although natives are not my main emphasis I think she's wonderful and spend a few hours a month helping her maintain it. (I'm not alone - she has lots of fans). Any way, we were planting eupatorium (I got to bring one home) and clearing out the wonderful but non-native penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red' when she said that there was an area that was going to be mulched, and it had milkweed plants everywhere (syriaca). So I dug up some tiny ones and I am putting them into pots. That will help the pollinators but not mess up my yard.

Goldhillal, that sounds like syriaca. Incredibly invasive and hard to get rid of. In my old yard, it attracted the orange milkweed beetle, which decimates the leaves. I had tons of them, and it was a big factor in eliminating this very invasive plant from my yard:

https://www.google.com/search?q=asclepias+syriaca+milkweed+beetle&newwindow=1&rlz=1C1KAFB_enUS613US613&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=GfRuVfWhEIGfsQWSuYO4Dg&ved=0CCsQ7Ak&biw=1035&bih=667

A funny thing about penstemon. We see the 'Husker Red' variety and the native white one too. It seems that when bees pollinate 'Husker' and then go to the native they convert it into 'Husker'. So it's important that we get it out. I love this plant because it's gorgeous and can take incredible abuse. You can dig it up and throw it into the trunk of your car for a week, plant it, and it's happy. I love the burgundy foliage. Great along unwatered or boundaries on the property.

I did some milkweed research and better understand our differences. A rose is not a rose nor is a milkweed. We have about one of seventeen acres cleared to cultivate and aditional exposed areas that are trails or unpaved road. The rest is densely wooded. Our primary species milkweed is white milkweed (A. variegata). Our particular variety has attractive obovate leaves. The flowers are in dese umbels and resemble large hoyas. Very nice. I assume they are invasive since they are spreading, albeit not too fast. I have not tried to remove any but should probably check that out. Will try and snap a photo wben we return this week. We also have A. tuberosa, but maybe only five or six on the property.

I used to care for a manicured perrenial yarden but have since turned most of the flower cultivation over to MN (Mother Nature) while I tend veggies. I took one of the earliest MG garden programs in the cou try but gave it up because of the volunteer time demands. I had a yo g family, worked and went to school.

I'm posting photos from yesterday of what I've got growing. It appears most of it is not yet blooming. After looking online I thought perhaps I was mistaken and have common milkweed but the common milkweed seed capsule is very different than this one. These look like a giant, elongated okra pod which matches A. variagata. The variety shown here also has purple stems and common has green. It grows as single specimens in most bare areas but there are springs running under the pasture where it is heavy. Whaddya think?

There is another plant growing down there that I think is also a milkweed. It is branching and has clusters of fewer flowers up and down the stem joints. It has green stems. Those flowers are not open yet. It is spreading much faster than the one shown below. I took photos of the other one and need to ID it.

My milkweed survived its journey - not a surprise. I can now have goodies for the monarchs without sacrificing my garden.

Laurel - The photos you posted are definitely Asclepias variegata.

Ok, I forgot. Is this the invasive one , or not?

Not

great discussion,
greenthumb got here first but I can 'second' everything he said about Asclepias syriaca. I so rarely see Monarchs before early fall, that I will pull out many stems after they bloom (swallowing up a large flowerbed). Then they sprout again with tender growth that Monarchs seem to really like, or that is what is here when they lay their eggs anyway.

second to Maypops, wander like crazy but I pull the strays and keep one patch. It covers the Van houte spiraea. Bumblebees get on the flower and look like they're addicted.

I have some Eupatorium for nectar. Mostly E. serotinum, sweet fall fragrance, tiny creatures adore it, but big reseeder.

Bumble bees were so drunk on maypops last year that SO took to stroking them to demonstrate their docility.

Thanks for good news on the milkweed, Greenthumb.

I have just discovered evening primrose is a trap crop for Japanese beetles. They are covered while the beans and okra are spared. Will go out today with cups of soapy water.

I have found two dead bees in the last week. It scares me. I use no chemicals here at all. So it must be the farmers around us. (Off topic I know.)

We are baffled by a noticeable lack of all types of bees and wasps in the garden. My neighbor is a bee keeper and still nada. I have not checked to see the status of his hives but we normally have wild bees on the edges of our woods. Maybe when the summer flowers open.

As I took my walk tonight I noticed all the horrible crown vetch and tree of heaven on my property and spreading on to conquer the county. (Well.. Tree of Heaven has already done so BUT we are at ground zero of a new invader - The Spotted Lantern Fly which, among the several things it likes, is Tree of Heaven! (We're under quarantine - small sections of Berks County, Pa). Unfortunately, this new invader also attacks stone fruit trees.

So... did we have Crown Vetch? Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) on our list yet? .

These threads go so long who can remember...we have Tree of heaven around here too of course, but it doesn't seem like anything people are intentionally planting. I saw some crown vetch on my walk today, in the huge field leftover from building several big box stores some years ago.

I am relieved to see many bees in my garden. I always have bumble bees and this is the third year of my ground bees. They are interesting creatures in that they are very non-aggressive toward people. I can walk right over their location and they just buzz around. Kids have ridden bikes within inches of their hives and there is no reaction. They did sting a pit bull named Lily, which its owner tells me will not longer even walk on my side of the street. I have lots of old garden roses and the bees just love them. And my milkweed in a pot is going well. I also added a second eupatorium.

I'm used to seeing the bees just buzzing everywhere here. I have lots of flowers. But they are remarkable scarce this year. :-(

Put me down as a hater of Tree of Heaven. . You just ca't stop that thing!! Nuclear bomb, maybe? Too bad a bug has been found that eats it and also eats other stuff. :(

I tried the slash and squirt technique on it. Walked around cutting deeply into the tree and squirting a mix of glyco and something else (can't remember now -maybe 2,4-D?) those trees barely have a mark now. Didn't phase 'em a bit. And we have a forest trying to grow in several of our fields.

No need too cut deep. Roundup has to be applied essentially instantly when bark is cut. Cut a ring around trunk with one hand while applying herbicide to the cut with the other.

I'm pretty sure Ailanthus suckers also...

I found that applying a really tenacious glue over the roundup on the cut rid me of several mulberry bushes was effective. The glue helps the roundup penetrate. I read it somewhere and it worked well for me.

Why can't pets pee on the right plants? If they can be trained for other more complex purposes we should be able to capitalize on this natural proclivity. Plus no guff from the au natural gardening crowd.

Allianthus sucker for 30 to 40' from moma. That's why I have forests of seedlings. :-(

deep cut or not, the roundup in the wound did not do squat! Tried it a few times and just gave up. I just try to mow down the suckers before I really do have a forest instead of open fields.

My list (zone 8b):
Mexican petunias, the tall kind.
Snail seed vine, these are my worst enemy and I have no idea how to eradicate it. It's taken over my daylily beds and is growing up one side of my house. Grows from extremely long root systems and I can never get it all.
Spider wort. Cute little flowers but has also taken over daylily beds.
Dollar weed (or something that looks very similar). It's slowly creeping though my lawn.

Do not ever plant the chameleon flower plant. It is the most horrible plant. It is so invasive and you cannot dig it out. It’s seeds all over the place and it’s not even as pretty as it looks. It’s a great filler if you can contain it but I cannot. I have used weed killers and new fresh soil after digging out the old stuff. It’s about 20 years now.