Oxeye daisy, pretty but rampant. 7
8 9
Oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare).
This bad baby is lovely to look at, but it is a very vigorous seed producer and before long, you will have oxeye daisies growing everywhere in your garden, including y our lawn. It loves sun but will also do very well in shade.
Himalayan balsam or Arctic impatiens
(Impatiens glandulifera). Also known as jewelweed and Indian touch-me-not, this tall, red stemmed plant has prodigious seed production capacity. It broadcasts its fruit explosively if the seed pods are touched. It has worried naturalists because of its invasive tendencies. Gardeners may just find it too hot to handle, thanks to the seed spreading habits. Variegated ribbon grass (Phalaris ar-
10 11
undinacea). For some reason, seasoned gardeners love to gift this plant, along with goutweed, to novice gardeners. Take it if you will, but grow it with extreme caution if at all. You might be better off to say a pleas- ant thank you, then put it in the trash bin. It will grow anywhere, but it travels under- ground and is very hard to eradicate. Mint (Mentha). There are many,
many varieties of mint and it’s a plant, like strawberries, that you probably want to have growing somewhere. I’d suggest a container. Mint is highly invasive via its underground root system. And watch out for wild mint, which is even harder to control. Cranesbill geranium (Geranium).
We’re talking the small, usually blue-flow- ered plant, here, not the showy pelargonium so commonly called geranium. While there are new varieties that may be less invasive and will certainly bloom longer, the old fashioned cranesbill can be very rampant. They are low growing with an attractive foli- age, but if you give them a chance, they will certainly fill a space very quickly and may overtake other, smaller plants. The common
Pretty Himalayan impatiens are on some noxious weed lists. They have explosive seed pods.
Valerian willfully self-sows. If you have it, so may the neighbourhood.
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variety grows six to 12 inches tall, but there are varieties that get very tall. Having said all these things, you should know that there are some excellent and better behaved hybrids and that the blue variety Geranium “Rozanne’ was perennial of the year for 2008. Yellow archangel. Lamium galeobdo-
lon ‘Variegatum’. This is a variegated lami- um that becomes rampant once established. It has very tenacious above ground stolons. It performs well in the shade and is about eight inches tall with yellow flowers. Don’t confuse it with the well-behaved ‘Herman’s Pride’, which has a silver variegation and a clumping habit.
Watch The Manitoba Gardener on Shaw TV Channel 9
Variegated ribbon grass ‘Peaches and Cream’, isn’t quite as crazy as its ordinary cousin.
13 Valerian (Valerian officinalis). This
fantastic plant is beautiful and has a heavenly scent as well as being a most useful herb that is still in use to treat sleep disorders. It is tall and slender (a “see through” plant) that can reach five feet tall in the garden and blooms for a long time. The problem is that it is also a prolific self-sower and it also spreads via its extensive root system. Deadhead it as soon as you see the florets on its umbrella-like flower head beginning to fall. Cut it right back to the ground to prevent a second flush of bloom. The plant has a shallow root so it is fairly easy to pull by hand in early spring. `
Summer 2012 • 17
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