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girlwithaspirin

yellow archangel spreading wildly...

girlwithaspirin
18 years ago

Hey guys. Last summer, our landscapers planted a nice little bed of lamiastrum galeobdolon. This summer, every single garden bed is filled with what looks like big lilypads. The leaf shape is the same as the lamiastrum, but it's not variegated, and some of them HUGE. Apparently, it's invasive in my yard. Ugh!

I'm tempted to pull up the original bed, as well as all the rogue lilypads, then replace it with some coleus or hostas. But I fear we've already lost the war. Is getting rid of this stuff impossible?

Comments (3)

  • Ina Plassa_travis
    18 years ago

    lilypads? I checked the hortiplex, and got what I know as false lamium...which has rounded-diamond shaped leaves with green and white stripes... and a big leaf is 3" long.

    big lilly pad looking leaves sounds more like my local wild violets to me...

    but both of them are indeed invasive...very invasive, and it takes a fair bit of dedicated pulling (once a week for the rest of the season, and likely on into next year) to get rid of it.

  • eibren
    18 years ago

    There is a wild mustard that looks a bit like violet leaves until it gets tall and has little white flowers at the top.

    It is a biennial and develops a deep tap root. Additionally, it developes cute little pods that look a bit like a tiny, long, thin string bean, which throw numerous seeds all over when they ripen and twist open. If you crush some of the leaves and smell it, it has a distinctive aroma which is unlike lamiastrum.

    I think the birds really like this stuff and seed it all over the place.

    You are, however, right to keep an eye on your Yellow Archangel (ie Lamiastrum). Some web entries confuse it with Herman's Pride, which is pointier looking and reasonably well behaved.

    My Yellow Archangel is spreading all over a dry, deep shade area in my backyard, and I am considering rescuing the few good plants (Solomon's Seal, a few ferns, ginger) and letting it do its darndest. I know it will not let the wild mustard back in, and I'm tired of fighting that noxious pest (even though I think I read somewhere it could be edible...?)

    I used good old Y.A. in some pots out front, and by the end of the season it had managed to establish itself in the areas next to both pots. It is presently duking it out with English Ivy in one spot, and I think it is winning.

    I had a scare earlier this season when I noticed some similarly-shaped leaves coming up yards away, but without white markings. I was relieved to discover that those leaves were seedlings of a scullcap plant I had planted last year.

  • arisaemadracontium
    12 years ago

    I came across this thread while doing some research on the identification and control of yellow archangel as an invasive species. I know this is a very old post, but I have to set a few facts straight:

    The main point I want to make is that this 'wild mustard' is called garlic mustard. Its one of the worst invasive species in woodlands in the midwest. It is not desired or spread by birds, the seeds kind of catapult themselves out from the parent plant, and otherwise are spread mostly by mammals (mostly deer, humans and squirrels) who track them on their feet and occasionally in fur.

    I would recommend eliminating both of these species from any location in North America. See the attached link for more information about garlic mustard.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Weed Control and ID Sheet: Garlic Mustard

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