Colts foot, horseradish, and Jerusalem artichokes, OH NO!

November 19, 2003

My-sons-&-daughter-by-love and marriage, you may not know that I used to occasionally pass along tidbits of information to my grown kids. They were titled "Things My Mother Never Told Me."
Here comes another one. I want to be sure, none of you make this mistake and have to deal with what I'm battling.

Previous Owner apparently collected plants from the wild and introduced them into this property. I suspect she didn't know anything about them other than they were charming or pretty. When we closed the sale of Crocker Croft, I remember her replying to Husband/Best Friend when he said, "Thank you for growing all the flowers." She said, "You may not thank me."

Over the years there have been several times "I did not thank her". We now have the Colts Foot, horseradish, and Jerusalem Artichokes under control, but I have to watch for them as they still make sneak-appearances here and there. The ironweed and goldenrod are an ongoing battle. As long as I can get help, we'll use a heavy hand with them. There are enough escapees to still make beautiful, complementary vibrant purple and gold patches here and there.

The tip: Never collect goldenrod from the wild and plant in flower beds, unless you know what you're doing - that is - you can identify the species, know its habits, and are sure that is what you want. Beautiful as it is, you'd be planting labor intensive trouble. There are better-behaved goldenrods available.


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