Sand Vine, Honey Vine, Blue Vined Milkweed, Honeyvine Milkweed

The fragrance travels. You can smell it from several feet away. To me, it is an acquired "taste", reminding me of licorice. I don't like ...Read Morethat it comes up EVERYWHERE, cannot be pulled by hand (stem just breaks off), and is a magnet for aphids. But I do like that it climbs where I want something climbing, growing full and glossy and healthy early in the summer.

Yep, this is invasive all right. Large portions of my garden have its strong tendrils waving three feet into the air looking for somethi...Read Moreng to strangle.

And yet . . . when it blooms, the fragrance is indeed heavenly, a lot like heliotrope (one of my favorites) to my nose.

In my 50 something years living in this same area, this vine has been as common as dandelions. I have to constantly pull it from the chai...Read Morenlink fence & off my garden trellises. I did let some grow around the trashpit & I'm glad that I did. This week, I noticed a monarch chrysalis in my garden. When I was a kid, I liked throwing the pods. Ok, I still do!

As a beekeeper I appreciate the value of this nectar source for the ladies and other beneficial bugs in the garden. However, I have a hat...Read Moree relationship with this plant. It came to our neighborhood through a neighbor about 4 doors down (about 300 feet away) who grew it to cover a fence. It did what she wanted it to do and then covered everything else in her garden. Unfortunately, I am now dealing with her problem in my garden. It takes over everything growing 6-8" a day sometimes. I found pulling it just makes it happier. It seems to reproduces through root division, so when digging it out if you happen to break a piece off guess what it comes back. I break my organic gardening rules and use "Round-Up" for two things Poison Ivy and this. I can keep it under control, but it never goes away.

I have this plant come up every year and have always pulled it up as I did not know what it was. This past year I let it grow on my fenc...Read Moree and it was fragrant and lovely for the butterflies and bees. I will let it come up again this year but will continue to monitor and pull up when needed. I noticed I had many Monarchs but don't know it that is the reason. I am also trying to provide for the bees so feel this is a real plus.

I have a love-hate relationship with this plant. If it was a little more well-behaved, I would highly suggest it. It attracts beneficia...Read Morel pollinators and Monarchs. The fragrance is outstanding. Although, it will twine around anything and everything in its path. If you keep pulling it out, you can manage it fairly well. This would do well on a tree or fence in the corner of a yard, where it can't twine up any nearby plants. But, it is invasive. Probably not any more so than the common honeysuckle, and just as fragrant.

terribly invasive and destructive - it throttles anything it reaches, and it can reach anywhere... As bad as bindweed.

This is an awful twining weed in my garden (Washington, DC). Rip it out and do not allow it to go to seed.

It is easily m...Read Moreistaken for a bindweed or morning-glory before it flowers, but can be identified early by the leaves: they grow in pairs and have noticable contrast between the pale veins and darker flesh.

Cynanchum laeve is an interesting form of milkweed, it has heart shaped, highly glossy, veined, blue-green leaves and it vines up any pla...Read Morents in the proximity of the plant.

Plants will retaliate if you move them or disturb them but will bounce back after a length of time, although it may or may not bloom for the year as a result.

Edited July 12, 2006:
Even though this plant has a tendency to pop up anywhere, even outside of the intended planting area, I still favor it's fervent growth allows it to supply an adequate food supply for the monarch caterpillars, which enjoy the supple leaves as opposed to other milkweeds.

I received a seed pod of this plant from a friend because I wanted to grow it for the seed pod itself for craft purposes. However, no ma...Read Moretter how small or green the seed pod is, it will dry and crack open so I had to change directions on my crafts. I use the pod sections to make artificial poinsetta petals. If you enjoy doing this, the plant is definetly a plus. The seeds have a silky wing attached so they fly everywhere if not enclosed. I watch them closely and put them in a plastic bag just as they begin to crack open. The plant has not been invasive for me, in fact, they did not survive in some locations where I planted them. The only thing that I have seen that could be the bloom is a small yellow cross looking thing that is about 3/8 inch across.