Gardening: Some Weeds and Wildflowers

Thistles include a very large number of types — so I won’t go into all of them. There is a great article on Wikipedia which lists them and has a full discussion on them. You can check it out at this link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thistle. Most types of Thistles produce lovely flowers, but also produce prickly seedbeds which produce millions of seeds.

Once this plant get into a garden, if not controlled, they can become difficult to get rid of. Pulling the larger ones can be fairly hazardous since they have vicious spikes and the roots are difficult to access. Some specific Thistles that I really dislike are Onopordum, Scotch Thistle,

followed by the Milk Thistle Silybum,

and lastly Cirsium or Common Thistle.

Yes, they do have attractive flowers, and in the right place, are nice to look at, but trying to remove them in gardens can be quite a challenge.

In farm country, Thistles can become a real problem by crowding out money crops, and by getting into grazing areas wherein they can interfere with sheep and cattle grazing, and crowd out grazing crops.

We have the less visually attractive and more troublesome types of weed plants showing up and flowering perhaps not quite as nicely and in some cases really causing serious problems.

Ragweed, the bane of many allergy sufferers, There are two types of Ragweed, Common Ragweed Ambrosia artemisiifolia, the most common variety, which is also the main culprit in allergy reaction. At first, when the plant is immature, the foilage resembles a Marigold leaf, except that it is soft and covered in tiny hairs. Eventually it produces a compact green spike, which is its flower and from which comes the pollen.

The second type of Ragweed is called Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia trifida) and it is very slightly less of an allergy issue, but once it flowers (a compact spike of green flowers), its pollen also floats through the air to cause problems to allergy sufferers. This plant can grow to 6 to 18 feet in height.

Left unchecked both varieties of this plant can infest an area, and be hard to get rid of. Allergies are the cause of many people becoming ill and losing time from work.

Burdock (Arctium lappa) is a huge, deep rooted plant that is incredibly invasive. It produces thistle-like flowers, followed by large numbers of very clingy seedheads — burrs. If you have a dog, and have gone out walking in an area where these plants grow, I am sure you will be familiar with the burrs which get attached to just about every part of your dog, as well as to your clothing.

In some Asian countries various parts of this plant are considered an edible delight. For a really informative article on this plant, visit this link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctium

Unfortunately, no one seems to be taking advantage of this culinary delicacy in my area, however! The Burdock have been allowed to overgrow everything, small bushes, wildflowers and grasses. Where these plants grow the park has become unusable. Because of the embargo on chemicals to control invasive species, no steps are taken to control these weeds. If they used a controlled cut twice or three times yearly, this problem would not exist.

Another really invasive weed is Wild Mustard Garlic (Alliaria petiolata). This is an annual plant which produces small yellow flowers and seeds simultaneously, making it tricky to control. Once it gets into an area it requires diligent removal to control it. I generally try to get it before it begins to flower because of the seed issue. It is edible, and can be cooked and served as a green.

In recent times one of the worst weeds to appear along waterways, in parks and creeping into gardens where there is a stream is Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum ). This huge plant is extremely dangerous to people and pets. It looks spectacular and one might be tempted to approach it and cut one of the flowers. That would be a bad plan. and I suggest you read about it at this link.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum

I cannot understand why the various levels of government are not taking proactive action to remove it, It is only a question of time before some is seriously hurt.

Various types of the Clover are out in the park, and you can smell the flowers as you walk over them, or past them. The most common one is the white one, (Trifolium repens). You will find it on your lawn, and once it becomes established, you will have a hard time getting rid of it.

Clover has traditionally been used as a forage crop, but it is also edible and nutritious for people, once cooked. Bees love Clover, which means that Clover in your lawn might lead to Bee stings. Clover is a nitrogen fixing plant, which means it releases nitrogen into the soil.

Vetch (Vitrea sativa)is another nitrogen fixing plant which grows in uncultivated areas and fields. It has attractive flowers.

Later in the summer the four foot high Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) and the four to five foot high wild Asters bloom, creating a beautiful sight as you walk through the parkland. They are spectacular in the garden, since usually nothing else will be in flower.

Goldenrod has powerful roots and nice stiff stems which means that it tends not to collapse. It does spread strongly and if you have it in the garden you have to keep it under control. (A word in support of Goldenrod, it is not the allergy culprit that many believe. It has the bad luck to flower at the same time as Ragweed and vaguely resembles it. Two distinct differences are that the pollen of Goldenrod is sticky, rather than dusty like that of Ragweed, and the flowers of Goldenrod are bright yellow, unlike the greenish flowers of the Ragweed.

The Wild Asters (Aster nova angliae) come in pastels from pink to mauve and also white. Their stems are stiff but not enough to stay upright, so need to be supported with posts or against a fence in the garden. This plant is VERY invasive and you have to be quite brutal about controlling it.

It is edible and can be cooked as greens.

Herb Robert (Geranium robertium) is a charming annual Geranium which provides pink flowers from early spring to late fall. It tends to spread but is very easily controlled. It was previously used by herbalists to make up a facial skin treatment.