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Nuisance wildflowers etc

B3B3 Posts: 25,301
edited July 2021 in Plants
Are there any wildflowers or liberal self-seeders that you wish you hadn't encouraged? I wouldn't be without the ones on the list but I wish I'd been a bit less welcoming. They are becoming a real nuisance.
Verbena Bonarensis
Scarlet Pimpernel
Valerian. ( white and pink. Red isn't a nuisance - yet)
Nigella
Pulmonaria
Celandine
Aquilegia
Fennel

In London. Keen but lazy.
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  • micearguersmicearguers Posts: 614
    For me out of control (and not necessarily encouraged, but I think they still fit the bill) are

    Purple toadflax (Linaria purpurea)
    Skullcap (Scutellaria columnae) very pretty, it's a pity, did encourage it one time.
    Viola odorata - rampantly self-seeds
    Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) I have a few plants that I prevent from going to seed
    Balm mint (Melissa officinalis)

    I am also interested in the list you've been happy to have encouraged! Can we additionally have a list of 'Gentle self-seeders/spreaders, possible to control'? To me that's, so far,

    Fumitory (Fumaria muralis)
    Digitalis (species Foxglove)
    Evening primrose (Oenothera stricta)
    Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis lutea)
    Teasel (Dispacus fullonum)
    Californian poppy (Eschscholzia californica)
    Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea)
    Ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis)
    Vicia sativa (Such pretty flowers, but needs firm control)

    I'm still waiting to pass verdict on

    Common agrimonyl (Agrimonia eupatoria)
    Herb robert (Geranium robertianum) it seems easy to control so far







  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    Valerian officianalis (a perennial) is a PITA but I do love it. I have to spend most of the year digging it out. If I can find a less vigorous umbelifer I will probably swap over.

    Ox eyes were a bit much but not hard to spot and dig out when small. They seed in the patio, in all the pots, everywhere.

    Celendine was here when I moved in and there's bugger all I can do about it. I let it be.

    Medick I'm not sure about it. It's in a new plot and I'm yet to find out how much of a take over thug it will be. It seems find around the edges.

    Most of your list @B3 I would love to self seed and hasn't. I'm waiting for erigeron to spread (after about six years). Fennel and foxgloves would be great but the slugs take all. I suspect that is why few things seem to get going from self seeding in my garden, like erigeon. They probably do seed but get eaten straight off. ( 💡A light bulb moment - thanks for that.)
  • B3B3 Posts: 25,301
    I forgot to add wild marjoram. It's untidy and a spreader. I usually put up with it for the butterflies but so far, they haven't come to the party.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • B3B3 Posts: 25,301
    Teasel rarely seeds in a good place. Right in the middle of a path is a favoured option.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 6,662
    yes - why does it do that?

    “Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first” 
  • B3B3 Posts: 25,301
    It also lurks at the front of the border pretending to be a primrose. But I'm wise to it😡
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 6,662
    They keep turning up in the middle of the drive. Honesty is another of the 'possible to control' ones for me. And ferns. Polypody and hart's tongue and another, tiny one that I've not identified yet
    “Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first” 
  • pansyfacepansyface Posts: 21,938
    Common hogweed. It has completely taken over our little “meadow”.

    We started out with a nasty lawn.

    The first year with no haircut we had a straggly mess. I sowed yellow rattle.

    The second year we had shorter grass and a fine selection of poppies, cornflowers and all the typical meadow wild flowers, which had all arrived without any help from me, and the yellow rattle.

    The third year, the grass was shorter still. And then the hogweed arrived to join the party. I tried to cut the flower stalks off but must have missed a few because that was when it all began to go wrong.

    This year we have had some short grass, a few marguerites, the yellow rattle, a couple of knapweeds  and some twayblade orchids. The dominant plant is now the hogweeds. Their roots go down for miles. There are thousands of them.

    Without digging the whole thing up and starting again, I am at a loss to know how to get my pretty meadow back.
    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
    If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    I'd dearly love some self seeded hesperis, lunaria and foxgloves. I suspect I might need to move house for that.
  • micearguersmicearguers Posts: 614
    Another one I'm still gauging is Salvia forsskaolii, it is quite the enthousiastic self-seeder, both in the garden and in the patio cracks. I love its flowers, here (lilac-coloured I would say) with Erigeron:



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