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lucy925

perennials you wouldn't recommend!

lucy925
20 years ago

I'm trying to clean out my flower beds for winter, but am having quite a time (yesterday sweating in the sun) getting rid of the cameleon that is trying to take over my gardening world. This plant has underground runners and doesn't like to give up, that and lemon mint smell nice but I would recommend staying away from-very invasive.

Comments (95)

  • LNMP
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Speaking of yarrow, I made sure that I planted the yarrow I got from the Scotia plant exchange with a root barrier (bottomless pot) so it wouldn't take over the garden!

    Anyone want some purple spiderwort? It came to my garden uninvited, and while I like it, it just keeps exploding!

  • Anne_Marie_Alb
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    LNMP,
    Yarrow also spreads by SEEDS, so the bottomless pot will be a great 'protection', but you will also have to deadhead or pull up volunteers in the spring. 2 years ago, I did NOT deadhead because I liked the look of the seedpods and my flower bed was a carpet of yarrow seedlings the following spring! Last year, I made sure I cut the flowers to make dried bouquets just before they faded. I still had a few seedlings this spring-easy to pull, though. But butterflies loves them!

    Anne-Marie

  • Ramona_NY
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    orange oriental poppies! I am so tired of pulling them up from everywhere. I agree that sundrops were also a mistake in the bed. My obedient plant doesn't seem to be a problem, and I'm keeping an eye on the knautia, because I've heard that can also be a problem.

  • oldroser
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Dark-leaved cow parsley (anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing'). I can't believe I paid real money for this plant. It is just a purple leaved form of the stuff that infests the ditches and roadsides and cross breeds with them to produce a zillion new plants with foliage that ranges from green to purple. I finally eradicated the dark-leaved lysimachia and am still struggling with trumpet vine and Virginia creeper. Invasive but still with me is a lavender flowered violet. It was given me by an old friend who is no longer with us so I'll keep it even though I have to keep digging up pieces of it and throwing it away.

  • lblack61
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "it takes a lot of MUSCLES to pull them up"
    No wonder my sister-in-law said her husband could use the backhoe to uproot the bed so we could sort them and move them! I take it she's dealt with them before...I listen to her and wait for the backhoe...lol!

  • susanzone5 (NY)
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Houttuyinia will take over and so will aegopodium (bishop's weed.) Keep pulling them out as you see them and they will be gone in 3 years. This takes vigilance!

    I love the knautia seedlings. They are east to pull if you don't want them. I put them between perennials which hold them up.

  • Hummerspal
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My Anemone plant!!! Planted it about 7 years ago and it never grew. THEN! two years ago it showed itself and now I can't get RID of it!! I've got runners all over my front garden that take the power of God to pull out.

    I also have Sweet Woodruff but it's much more easy to handle so I don't mind it as much.

    Then there's the mint. I planted it in a container in the ground because I was told it was invasive. Didn't do a bit of good. The stuffs all over! But at least, like the Woodruff, it's easy to pull and smells nice. :)

  • gottagarden
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This topic was too valuable to let age off the forum.

    I was wondering about anemone and lysimachia, so I'm glad to hear that YES they are crazy spreaders.

    What about that rampant spreader, artemisia? It really takes over.

    I've planted bronze fennel, and while lovely when young, it sets a million seeds. Also verbena bonariensis sets lots of seed. But I like both of them and the seedlings are easy to pull, but be prepared for LOTS of them.

    I was going to try to plant anemone and lysimachia in large (15") and deep (10 inch) pots to see if they can be contained that way. Any comments?

    Also, this year I planted a bunch of the spreaders together to let them fight it out in a separate bed. Yarrow, bee balm, rose campion, turtlehead, purple coneflower, obedient plant, etc. All dark pink spreaders. Will be interesting to see how they compete with each other.

  • Hooti
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    hammerl, you can save me your Anemone Canadensis if you are coming to the swap at Tara's. (if not just come visit and I will send you home with lots of trades). It is native and I have plenty of room for it to trollop around in, as well as tons of other natives for competition.

    I have the property from hell. Well parts of it anyhow-shaded shrub swamp. I have a variety of microclimates and plan my planting accordingly. Slow spreading natives go in their own area, which is the choice pine woods, moist well drained. Spring flowerers go in the deciduous dryer parts. Wet loving natives get the wet meadows, and those ADHD wackos get areas where nothing else wants to grow, so I sing "Born Free" and let them romp to their hearts content.

    I am glad I am not the only one to ever kill False Dragonhead. Mine did not come back last spring either. I changed it to an "island" that is mowed around with more sun. Tall New York Asters and Goldenrod grow whevever they can, so it is hard for any other plant to get very far (except of course, the evil Darth Purple Loostrife).

    I have annual gardens, an herb garden (part of which is just a general shade garden, as it is surrounded by arborviti and pine trees and the house on one side), and then "the wilds". I plant domestic plants in the gardens surrounding the house and for the most part stick to natives in "the wilds". The natives can romp all they want as far as I am concerned. I am from an invasive species so it is not my place to argue with them about what they can do on THEIR own land. I plant my mints in (the herb garden) large containers so they don't get out of hand. The same goes for wild roses and the trumpet vine (that I got from one of you at the last trade!) I plant domestic wackos like sweet woodruff and lamium and other ground covers all together and let them duke it out. (the sweet woodruff won the battle against the bee balm is anyone cares to know). I cannot say what it will look like in ten years, but they surround a cement "stepping stone" path and the effect is really cool, like a patchwork. Most herbs are really European "weeds" and wildflowers. They (olden days Europeans people) used what was there for pot greens, medicine and seasoning. Because of this I would say the bulk of them (herbs) are badly behaved. I plant them all together and refuse to worry about it. I like the charming overgrown cottage garden look, and if I don't I will claim to anyhow so I don't have to weed. I appreciate well groomed gardens but they arent me. It would make my house look even messier in comparison, and trust me, the house looks chaotic enough without help. I am also "anti-lawn" except for I do like some nice clover and dandelion spots to graze guinea pigs on. Grass is welcome to grow in my dandelion clover beds.

    I do feel kind of tricked by seed companies that advertise european flowers as "wildflowers" sold here in the states. Dames Rocket is one. I have seen and been teed off at others that I have seen this year, but can't think of what offhand. When I was newer I didnt know what was native and what was not and relied on the companies to tell me. Bad plan, but I know many will be similiarly misled this year. Now I research everything I plant.

    My one really funny mishap was Nasturtium. It is not true that it doesnt like fertile soil. I planted it between my mint containers expecting little cute plants, and they grew into enourmous monsters, each with several tentacles eight feet long or more. I put long branches into the ground and they grew up them, looking like huge flowering trees. They were just covered with large bright blooms. I let them go and twined them around everything. Next year I will grow only one, way away from everything all by itself. Luckily they are annuals, but I am sure they reseeded all over. Anyone want one of the babies? lol.

    Here is a page with my herb garden and the monster nasturtiums.

    PAX
    Laurette

    PAX
    Laurette

  • hammerl
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I will bring anemone canadensis to the swap, then, with a note to others that it can be quite invasive and difficult to remove. Of course, I'll still have plenty. I haven't been able to remove it yet. :)It's pretty (which is why I let it get a foot hold in the first place), and a native, but it digs in and camps out forever.

    Another native I've got (think it's native)is Marsh Marigold (caltha plaustris, cowslip). It came along for the ride with some daylilies and other assorted plants from a friend's yard. early blooming, cheery in the spring. I've left it alone. Not overly invasive. Supposed to like it wet. Well, wet I've got.

    I let lamb's ear, bee balm, and rose campion battle it out in a plot between the house and walkways a few years ago. Lamb's ear won, but the others held on. They're now in bottomless pots (well, not the rose campion, I just snip the spent bloom before it sets seed if I don't want it back).

    And black-eyed susan ate a pretty dark red mum, and is being evicted this spring.

    Sweet Woodruff? It's spreading in my yard thanks to the dog (if you took home my sweet woodruff at the WNY swap last year, it's part of the healthy clumps my dog planted while hunting voles... I intentionally planted it under the lilac, where it makes a great ground cover, but the seed pods stick to her fur like velcro). It needs the right area, and no dogs rooting around.

    Comfrey still rates as the plant I'd never invite back. Much too large and deep-rooted.

  • Hooti
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The New England Wild Flower Society calls the Anemone Canadensis "rambunctious", lol. I would love some marsh marigold also if you have enough to give some out.

    Can you believe I cannot grow black eyed susans either? They used to fill the back meadows, until the evil lawnmower man mowed them too many years in a row. I replanted in abundance and not one came back the second year. It was two very wet years in a row but its hard to believe not one survived, and no seeds self sowed (there were many many plants put in which flowered in abundance the year they were planted). Last fall I collected some seeds from a definately wild plant. Hopefully it will take to the meadows.

    Oops, I'd better shut up or no one will give me plants at all.

    I have baby Rose of Sharon bushes in abundance but mostly because I never have the heart to pull them. They breed like mice, but the snakes won't touch them. Whenever I walk past them I think "hmmmm, does "My love is like the Lilies of the Valley and the Rose of Sharon.." mean invasive and impossible to control?

    *SNORK!*

    Anyone have Blood Root?

    PAX
    Laurette

  • susanzone5 (NY)
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lysimachia spreads outward from the plant in all directions. If you leave even a bit of root it will come back. After 3 years, I'm still pulling it out in places, and I only started with 3 tiny seedlings which I pulled out the second year. Yikes. Stay away from this in a cultivated garden.

  • kklady
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Orange Ditch Daylillies (the ones found along the highways).
    I planted some along the front foundation about 8 years ago..and they spread, and spread some more. I have dug the runners up, and planted them along the ditch in the front yard, and everywhere else I can think of.
    They do look pretty when in bloom, and help hide the foundation....but they do spread quickly.

  • tomtuxman
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Phystogeia (sp?) - a/k/a "obedient plant" --- not! Makes massive clumps and hard to thin or rip out.

    English ivy -- a scourge, I tell you.

  • mjay1014
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Number one on my list would be "Oriental Limelight Artemesia". Beautiful plant when small, but it will swallow your whole garden! I had no idea how invasive it would be. I've been chopping it out for three years now. Tall as me, and thich tap roots that spread out forever!

  • gottagarden
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Strawberries and Cream grass - Last year I planted a tiny slip of this. In looking at my gardens this week, I see that tiny slip has turned into a solid 3 foot patch. I'm moving it ASAP before it takes over.

  • BronwynC
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is an old thread that is coming in very hand for me. My worst nightmare. Lily Of The Valley. My mother pulled it out on the property and I'm still pulling it out. LOL

  • hammerl
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    BronwynC - interestingly enough, I'm the only person I know of who can't get it to grow. I planted some in my moist shady back bed, home to primrose, hosta, jack-in-the-pulpit, trillium, foamflower, forget-me-not and some other shade-loving plants. I think I get maybe two shoots of it, and this year I don't see any of it. I planted a pink variety on the other end of the yard, in slightly drier shade, near some coral bells, obedient plant, globeflower, a spirea, and the climbing rose zephirine drouhin. It never made it.

  • BronwynC
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hammerl,

    Head down to Hamburg, you can have as much of it as my hubby can dig out for you!

  • jennegardens
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Torch lily - I've tried unsuccessfully to grow this tropical looking perennial and although it is supposed to be able to over winter in zone 5 I've tried 3 times now and have not had one come up the following year. I give up on the Torch lily.

  • Aurore
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think seed invasives are the worst, followed by underground runner invasives and then thick rooted clumping plants.

    Seed invasives such as heliopsis and feverfew, etc. can have their seeds spread far and wide and in a year's time can be everywhere. Solution- cut flowers off before they go to seed.

    Root invasives such as lily of the valley, perilla, lysimachia punctata and chinese lanterns, etc. grow by long underground runners. I planted chinese lanterns in one spot and the next year it came up six feet away from where I planted it. Solution- most of these plants pull up easily, but the roots remain to send up more shoots so you have be sure to spade up the roots as well and these roots aren't easy to dig. Planting them where they will get mowed down if they go beyond the borders helps keep them in check. Diligently pulling them at the first sign of growth so that there is no foliage above ground can weaken them so that they eventually die. This may take a few years.

    Thick rooted clumping plants like hosta, heliopsis and some bushes, have large fiberous roots that are a bear to get apart and in order to divide often have to be lifted out of the ground in a large clump that weighs a ton. Solution- Don't let them get too big or hire someone else to do it.
    Plants like star of bethlehem and ajuga, etc. form clumps of plants that no matter how hard you try to get rid of by pulling always seem to come back because you can never quite get them all. Solution- smother them.

  • matt_v
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Greetings! In my Camillus Garden, the number one pain in the 'end is GLOBE THISTLE (Echinops). I have several hundred Taplow Blue seedlings to deal with each year...SO prolific are the seeds!!! If the darn thing didn't look so awesome, and attract Hummingbirds for great photos, I would have forgotten about it long ago.

    One other nasty invasive is the Box Elder (Acer negundo) tree. Again, great Wildlife tree, lots of seeds for forage and thick foliage for nests. But if 50, 000 seeds fall, 49, 999 will germinate!! I pull so many each year, I feel like a crop picking lad from the 1800's. If you could eat them???

  • hypatialee
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    on hostas, i just cut partway into the plant (rootmound). i was going to dig the whole thing up to lift/seperate, but couldn't get the bloody thing up. i was however, able to cut out sections of the root mound, all of which have been transplanted successfully. the best times to cut into the hosta are in early spring or late fall to not interfere with blooming when there's minimal foilage so you can see what you're digging into! ;)

  • phylrae
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow! I am so glad that the morning glories I had last year didn't return and the lily of the valley I planted last year either never "took". I'm also glad I didn't plant the feverfew someone gave me (didn't float my boat anyway) or the seeds to the money plant. I do have to do something with those disobedient plants though. Have 4 of them. Maybe I'll put them in Time Out. :0) Phyl

  • waplummer
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lily of the Valley

  • deprived_wife
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I gotta laugh. I can read the frustration that i myself get every year. Now i know I'm not the only one who goes crazy.

    Here's my PITA's (pain in the ...):
    bee balm
    any other mint family plant
    lilies- day, of valley, you name it
    king solomon, I think thats the name- huge plants that look like LOTV
    and CHAMOMILE

    I had started with 2 3" pots of bee balm, well now I have 2 3 foot wide bushes in a years time. Chamomile was a 3" pot, not a 3 foot wide and spreading shoot off. They jumped everywhere. Mint, well we all know it should be a weed.

    I dug up and divided this huge clump of daylilies, the common orange. this lump was 3 feet wide and at least 2 feet deep! I broke it up and figured they were pretty so I would use them between the houses on the one side. It worked. I hate mowing there and yet i still do but soon it should fill in and eventually take over the world.

    Isn't funny how the plants you really want to grow, don't!?

    anyone got a helpful tip to kill off the creeping charlie from the neighbors yard?
    :)

  • penny1947
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I wish I did have a remedy for killing my neighbor's creeping charlie as the one plays it ends up in in my flower bed along the fence. I have lemon mint growing in my yard right now and I have never planted it. It just appeared in to big new clumps this spring. I have to dig it up before it starts spreading. I have been ripping out Marshall's Delite bee balm for two years. and I am still finding sprigs popping up. I do have and will keep my jacob's cline bee balm for my hummers. I just cut out a chunk in spring and move it to another spot.

    Penny

  • willsgram
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just reading the old posts, and thought I'd second the perennials already mentioned: Lilies of the Valley (over the years, they've taken control of several beds),Oenothera, Evening Primrose (I dig tons of it out every year), also, Yuccas (once they are there, you'd better love em). I know Cleomes are an annual, but they reseed every year and I yank out all but a few. I planted some vinca as ground cover a few years ago, and it's also become a problem. Right now, though, I'm battling the weeds that have taken over, after several weeks of rain.

  • magicman2u
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yes Cleome sure does reseed. I have about 200 plants in a 3' by 2' area. So far I have left them to grow. Anyone know what will happen if I let them all grow??? I had one last year and it was gigantic 4' tall 3' wide. I think I should thin it out.

    Ok here's what I did for creeping charlie my results are good so far!

    Creeping Charlie Control - Borax
    You may have heard about using Borax to control creeping charlie. You have to use Borax very carefully. Boron, the active ingredient in Borax, is an essential nutrient, needed in minute quantities for healthy plant growth. Amounts even slightly over what is needed are toxic to plants. Borax can be used against creeping charlie because the weed is more sensitive to boron than grass is. Small amounts can kill creeping charlie without permanently harming the lawn. (Grass may brown a bit, but it will grow out of it.)

    The problem is, boron does not dissipate or break down like standard weed-killers. If it's applied repeatedly or at too strong a rate, you will end up with an area where you can't grow anything until the boron leaches out. That may take years.

    The most you should treat your lawn with borax is once each spring for two years. Here's the formula:

    Dissolve eight ounces of Twenty Mule Team Borax into four ounces of warm water, then dilute it in 2 1/2 gallons of water. This should be sprayed evenly over 1,000 square feet of lawn, no more, no less.

    If you decide to use this procedure I would recommend you follow this formula precisely!


    Wayne

  • lilium_guy56
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I guess I'll add my 2 cents here. I got you all beat. That horrid MONARDA I bought just grew and grew everywhere. I dug and trashed and repeated that for years. I wish I never got it. But I think those DITCH Lilies are even worse.

  • hammerl
    17 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nah, I'll take monarda over that anenome canadensis any day. I've got three varieties of monarda (a nice red, a dwarf pink, and a tall magenta) that are all OK. I've got one invasive anenome canadensis that I haven't succeeded in pulling out over the last five or six years. Ugh.

    And I've got to significantly thin the ditch lilies next spring (it would take a backhoe right now...) but at least they don't go crazy all at once.

  • srrn
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    okay, all this information is overwhelming! but VERY interesting! Of course, I have every one of the mentioned ones in my garden, but the obediant behaves for me and like you say, pulls out easily and I've almost killed off the evening primrose by yanking that so many years.
    I still love my bee balm and day lillies and the pachysandra and ribbon grass are still small enough to not be bothering me yet,
    so the only one I really hate is the lily of the valley, and of course chives are everywhere!
    but I need to know if some of the names are what I think they are: is chameleon the same as houytonia? and are japanese anenomnes the same as the canadensis?
    I will need to start yanking those too, I guess.
    wow, I'm beginning to wonder what IS safe to plant

  • plankface
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This forum has helped me realize that the plants people bring to plant swaps are ... things they want to get rid of.

    I went to a community plant sale today and was shocked to see plenty of things I would be happy to weed out of my garden, including the scourge of our town, lily of the valley. and here was my local GARDEN CLUB, trying to sell it to me for $2 a pot!

    My personal bane, though, is not a plant but a tree -- locust. We cut two of them down a few years ago and can easily pull up 20-30 shoots every few days from the tree's roots, which traverse the entire back yard. Argh.

  • penny1947
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Any kind of clumping ornamental grass. The neighbor behind me has it here and there on his property and I have been digging it out of one of my beds along the fence since very early spring. SOme of it has actually grown through the wooden fence panels. I am tempted to go on the other side of my fence and poor round-up on all of it.

    Penny

  • booberry85
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    How funny! I've been reading through this thread and have planted quite a few of the things mentioned here on purpose. I'm trying to make my front flower bed all perennials and "care free."

    My front flower bed goes from being full sun to mostly shade. So far I have planted Monarda (just planted a few weeks ago), Sweet William (not sure if that one was mentioned. My Mom hates it,)Double Flowered Tiger Lilies, Hens & Chicks, Bishop Weed, Rudbeckia, Enchinacea, Lilies of the Valley, Hosta and Astilbes.

    I do have mint growing in my veggie garden that I can not eradicate. My mother-in-law gave me the plant.

  • penny1947
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Booberry I dug up buckets full of Lily of the valley last year for someone who wanted it. I had plant 6 tiny sprigs of it about 6 years ago and by last year it had taken over one side of my fencbe and was filling in another side. I still had to dig out about a dozen more this spring that had bits and pieces left in the soil. DOn't even mention echinacea. I had three plants that I started from seed three years ago. I have about 10 good sized plants now and hundeds of seedlings....They are all coming out if it ever warms up and dries out so I can get out there and dig.

    I will stick with my nice well behaved southwerstern salvias. They don't spread but they do reseed some thank goodness.

    Penny

  • hammerl
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well, I still only have four or five sprigs of lily of the valley, no matter how hard I have tried to get a little to grow, or where.

    On the other hand, I literally worked until my hands were bloody and blistered last weekend, ripping out bishop's weed and anenome canadensis by the bucketful.

    Next weekend's project? Sweet Woodruff. I know people who can't get this stuff to grow. My dog plants it by hunting the flower beds for voles and having the seed stick to her fur and it falls off in the beds. Even though the beds were mulched heavily last year, I have two new patches of sweet woodruff clear across the patio from where I want it. At least it beats the other stuff.

    I think my sisters-in-law will take most of it off my hands, so maybe I will try to save it.

  • disneynut1977 ~ Melissa
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The ones that I have had to deal with at this house are Lily of the Valley in my front garden (don't mind it my back on the hill) and the STUPID chinese lanterns. I have spent a few days now out front digging out all thier stupid roots, even into my lawn to get this spot ready for more roses. I can't believe how quickly those things spread. I even told a co-worker I was not going to give them my pulled stuff because of how bad it got in my yard.

    Something that is not a pretty perennial, but has some how made it into my yard is Knot Weed(heart bamboo). Both my hubby and I have admitted defeat and just try to contain it now. I think next year we are gonna just tarp them and the surrounding area for a few years and see what that does.

    Melissa

  • penny1947
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I pull out tons of knotweed between my garage and my neighbor's hedges. This year I have seedlings all over my beds because he lets everything just grow on his property. I have also had to content with his ornamental grasses coming through my fence and have been dousing them with weed killer. I might eventually kill the mother plants off....hope springs eternal!

    Penny

  • garden_for_life
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Excuse me if this is a stupid question - but can't you eradicate anything you don't want with Round-up? I know it may take several applications (it did with poison ivy on our property), but it should work eventually and is easier than pulling out roots or seedlings one by one.

  • penny1947
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I only use pesticides as a last resort as my garden is geared towards wildlife in particular hummingbirds and I also have a dog. I don't want to take any chances. I have resorted to spraying my neighbor's invasive grasses behind my fence and will probably have to do the same with the Knotweed along the garage.

    Penny

  • rosalinda_gw
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The only things I have found invasive in my dense soil is the bishops weed, and despite that I recently planted the variegated kind anyway, and my Bamboo, which I love and want more of, once I figure out a good way to contain it (I hear 18 inch deep barrier of 40 mil plastic should work) . For some reason stuff that is considered invasive barely spreads - and even if it did, I have lots of acreage to fill up. I learned some interesting lessons about what is invasive to others at this years WNY plant swap and will try to do better with what I bring next year. This thread is also very helpful.

    So if anyone has that anemone, and any red monarda - please bring it next year to the plant swap for me :o)

    -Rosalinda

  • disneynut1977 ~ Melissa
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    FYI, roundup doesn't kill knotweed. We have tried for 2 years now, and I have looked it up. That stuff is very hard to get rid of. We hate to use chemicals, our yard is natural. I think most people revert to chemicals too often and maybe that's why we are seeing our honeybees dying out?

    I think though for my knotweed problem, I may be calling TruGreen. A co-worker of mine has a really bad knotweed problem and for $50.00, they have guarenteed with 1 application to rid her of it. As much as I hate chemical's, I don't want my patch of knotweed to get any bigger.

    Melissa

  • wellspring
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am not in upstate New York, but in zone 6 downstate Illinois. I was using the search feature for something completely different when I saw how many people had responded to this old post and knew it would be a treasure trove. Many of the things listed are things I have heard about before, but I had never created a list. Just prayed I'd remember what not to get or what to be careful with at planting time.

    Thought someone else might like this in list form. I still plan to go back through and add the latin botanical name where missing. There are a few things that I didn't put on this list. Ornamental grass, for instance, since the type wasn't mentioned and there are huge differences depending on the species.
    So, here's the list I came up with. Thank you for helping me to create the beginnings of a good reference file.

    Aggressive / Invasive plants -- The following list began with plants that gardeners in zone 5 and 6 on the Upstate New York gardening forum found to be invasive. Some noted that âinvasiveâ is somewhat objective and depends on where the plant is located. In the book Paradise Lot the authors sometimes put aggressive plants that they liked to have around on purpose in an area of the garden not ideal for that plant. I.e. in shade rather than sun. At some point I should perhaps mark the plants below with a rating system to distinguish the ânever, never, never plant thisâ from the ones that might be good to use in certain situations.

    Achillea millefolium ssp. Yarrow
    Aegopodium Bishopâs weed aka gout Weed; aka snow-on-the-mountain
    Ajuga ��" Someone in New York doesnât like it. Ours is a good ground cover.
    Anemone Canadensis
    anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing' dark leaf form of common cow parsley
    Artemisia I get the feeling some types are okay.
    Artemisia âOriental Limelightâ Beautiful when small; will swallow your whole garden! Very invasive. Years to eradicate. Huge. Roots run vigorously. Tap root deep.
    Balloon flower
    Bittersweet (I think this is also called Virginia creeper.)
    chameleon plant
    Chinese lanterns
    Cleome Annual. Prolific self-seeder. Might be good if the self-seeding is desired.
    Comfrey Apparently huge, fast growing and deep rooted.
    Lily of the valley Many, many warnings, although some would like to grow it and canât.
    Creeping Charlie
    Echinacea purpurea purple cone flower Several mentions. I like it and like the self-seeding.
    Echinops GLOBE THISTLE Prolific self-seeder, Butâ¦awesome looking and attracts humming birds.
    Feverfew
    Fennel, bronze ��" Self seeds vigorously; person commenting liked this trait.
    Hemerocallis common ditch daylily
    geranium oxonianum
    Ipomoea morning glory
    Jerusalem artichoke, perennial sunflower
    Lamium ssp.
    Tiger lily
    Lobelia syphilitica
    Lychnis coronaria Rose Campion (See- Lychnis The Genus for types that might not be invasive.)
    Lysimachia clethroides Many, many warnings.
    Lysimachia punctata Loosestrife Many, many warnings.
    Lemon balm
    Mentha ssp. Mint
    Mexican evening primrose
    Monarda bee balm
    Money plant
    Mountain bluet
    Oenothera fruticosa - sundrops - evening primrose
    Pachysandra
    Obedient plant
    Ribbon grass
    stachys byzantina Lambâs ears
    Sweet woodruff
    Thymus ��" the creeping thyme variety.
    Trumpet vine
    verbena bonariensis Self seeds vigorously; person commenting liked this trait.
    Vinca
    Virginia creeper
    Yucca has spines. Dramatic structural plant. Very very deep rooted.

  • MsKitty31
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It's funny - some plants that are on the above list I LOVE in my garden and others, two come to mind, Oriental Bittersweet and Virginia Creeper, I wish would die and never ever ever come back!!!....EVER!...at my house anyway :-)

  • booberry85
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "My front flower bed goes from being full sun to mostly shade. So far I have planted Monarda (just planted a few weeks ago), Sweet William (not sure if that one was mentioned. My Mom hates it,)Double Flowered Tiger Lilies, Hens & Chicks, Bishop Weed, Rudbeckia, Enchinacea, Lilies of the Valley, Hosta and Astilbes. "

    Well, 5 years later....

    I'm still fight mint and oregano that's gone wild in the vegetable garden. The monarda I moved to a sunnier but wetter spot. It's still there but not spreading wildly like I hoped it would. The Sweet William died. I think it's a short lived perennial to begin with (only lasting 2-3 years). Tiger lilies are tiger lilies! That's why you plant them. I think they'd survive a nuclear war! I love them just the same! The hens & chicks and bishops weed both died. I think I'm the only person that desperately wants bishops weed and has successfully killed it everytime (I've tried growing it from seed and from plants). Rudbeckia, Enchinacea, Lilies of the Valley, Hosta and Astilbes are doing well. I had to move the astibles but their doing much better in their new location.

    HATE knotweed! The only ways I found to kill it without using Round-up, is to cut down to the ground just before we have a frost or before we have a long (week long) dry sunny spell. Also you can rip it out by the roots, but you need to bag it up. It reroots readily.

    I'm allergic to Virginia creeper. Unfortunately, we have it growing up the trees around the perimeter of our yard.

  • lovetogarden
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The biennial Rudbekia Triloba. While my favorite variety of black-eyed-susan, had completely taken over the garden of my last house. Before I moved I had a huge barn sale. Everyone who admired the plant I handed a small perennial shovel, a cardboard box, and told them to help themselves. The buyers had my beds cleaned out of this pernicious weed in no time. LOL! Everyone who saw the plant loved it but I did make a point to warn them not to let it go to seed. That was my problem. I let it go to seed because the birds, in particular the Finches, loved it. But they're the ones who spread it all over the garden. I now have one small clump which I don't allow to go to seed. I never have to replant the seed because in spite of cutting it down to the ground, I still find it in different locations throughout the garden. So each spring I simply transplant it in a place I intend in the garden. Feverfew also does this in my garden but not to such a degree. Now weeds are an entirely different subject. Ugh!

  • kelp
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    English Ivy. The previous owner planted it, now it berries, and so it pops up everywhere. Star of Bethlehem. Who knows how old I'll be when I finally get rid of it. Ground Ivy. Jewelweed. This one I actually planted. (I brought a few seeds home after a walk in damp woods.) The seeds seem to be able to stay dormant for years, germinating when conditions are right. I have Pokeberry, and yes, you have to hoe the seedlings down every spring, but the mockingbirds love the berries, so I let one live. If you have a formal garden, Penstemon digitalis reseeds readily, so you'll either have to move them to where you want them, or toss them into the compost. All my asters, ironweed, and jumpseed are surrounded by seedlings every spring, so they need to be hoed down.

  • doskyjones
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The north side of my house gets very little sun, plus the soil there is poor. Several years ago I planted ajuga, which did well and didn't spread too aggressively. About 5 years ago, I added chameleon plant because I just liked the color. I figured I'd deal with the aggresivness when it became a problem.
    WELL, two years ago that flower bed suddenly sprouted ferns (there are a lot in our woods) and wild strawberries (likely carried in by the birds). Both have taken over and completely choked out the ajuga and chameleon! I'm shocked!

  • Oceanpeg
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lilies are spreaders. I container grow most of mine plus have some of the tiger lilies growing in the ground near a pine tree, behind my container growing herbs and veggies, next to and around a wagon wheel. They need to be weeded out because they are multipling like crazy. Have other lower growing Lilies in the front containers and the Breck's 8 foot Tree Liies in the back pots.Total of 6 containers for same. Sorry the photo is verticle instead of horizontal. Took it mid last month and haven't straightened the photos out yet in PhotoShop... The Tree Lilies grow from scratch each year and grow to the 8 foot tall height and are really loaded with flowers galore. Just love them. I have tomato cages around them for support because they really get top heavy with their multi blooms to keep them from blocking my walkway in my alloted gardening area in a senior citizens complex. I MiracleGrow them with plant food too.

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