Canada Anemone

Canada Anemone: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1106/index.html

The topic of this month's meeting of our local garden club was native plants for the garden. The speaker started out with a slide of of the Canada Anemone (Anemone canadensis) and said emphatically "Do NOT plant this in your garden".
She said it is very invasive, a thug and even called it a name, which I thought was so cute that I had to share it with you all.

She called it the Canadianemone
(Canadian enemy)

Sandy

Believe her. Like a lot of natives, taken out of a tough environment where it is held back by other tough survivors and unfriendly elements, it is not just a pretty native flower when you let it loose in your nice soft flower bed environment. Anybody want some? Makes a great PERMANENT groundcover. And nobody can yell at you, because its native.

Of coarse its also simple and pretty so you plant it. Not sure who gave it to me althoughs years ago, but I will always have constant reminder of it, be careful of what you get for free.

Ahh, where were you guys when my friend offered me a piece of this monster, and I innocently accepted?

I dug it out from my front bed, and would have sworn I got it all, I dug halfway to China, sifted the soil, and yet guess what popped up this year, in between the daylilies I put in its place? Grrrrr.

I'm glad I haven't had to fight with this in my garden. The native connotation of being delicate, vulnerable and dainty just doesn't apply here....guess there's always a few bad-uns in every crowd!

Sandy

Is that the thing some people call mayflower? I had that in my fromt bed and spent 2 years ripping it out. Discovered last summer hubby had been taking it from the mulch and putting it in his bed, grrrr.....
LA

edited to say that now I throw things waaaay back in the field so Hubby cant scavenge them....

This message was edited Dec 10, 2006 12:20 AM

threegardeners, Don't know if it's the same for you but around here mayflower is that little woodlander that looks kind of like lily-of-the-valley, and so far it has stayed on the edge of the woods

Reading about your helpful hubby scored mine a point for golfing instead of 'helping' in the garden!

Sandy

threegardeners, that made me burst out laughing - priceless!

My hubby's philosiphy is pull it all out, what comes back is weeds. He is very helpful though, if I ask him to help making a new bed and he find a way to use the backhoe. Yikes please go away!!!!!! Now who is the smart one.

Along with anemone, isGoutweed (Aegopodium podagraria Variegatum). Was planted here when we arrived, thought it was just fabulous. Meet a new friend and she was furious, could not get rid of this horrible plant. I said let me see, oh no my beautiful goutweed. Later in the summer I called her up and said were rich, she said how so. And I told her I had found goutweed at the nursery for $6.95 a pot, we could sell tons of it. I still have it and I get lots of comments as it makes a stunning diplay on a steep bank , even the deer won't go on.

Lynn

Mayflower also known as Trailing Arbutus would be very much welcomed inhabitant if you could get it to grow in your flower bed. It has a very pleasant odor, some like Lily of the Valley but distinctive. It is a slow grower and not invasive, requiring an acid base soil.

Here is a link:
http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/epigaearepe.html

wow...the mayflower is lovely, wish that is what I had

Went through the same problem with hubby and his nasty Japanese Knotweed, still digging it out of the vegetble garden, and the lawn, and the lilacs....

He was wondering why the anemone wasn't doing so well last fall....hehehe...Mom was sneaking into his bed late and hitting them with roundup, we told him "I guess they just don't like your bed"......ahhhh...the joys of having 3 gardeners under one roof.
LA

Lynn, you Goutweed-lover you! Actually, it is a pretty plant, if it would just behave. Do you have a pic of your Goutweed bank?

Hi Ironwood, well, I sure would welcome that little cutie in my flower bed! Here's a pic of the one we call Mayflower around this neck of the woods:
http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/maianthemumcana.html

threegardeners, you must have some great stories to tell about having to share the garden. Although, I like the idea of sharing the muscle power, that would mean three different views on how to do each job, what to plant, where to put a new bed. How the heck do you manage it?

Sandy

lol..Sandy..it ain't easy....

Nothing like waking up in the morning and touring the garden with a first cup of coffee, checking your most recent prize finding, just to discover it is gone....cursing the neighbours...then discovering it has been swiped by Mom or Hubby and moved to their beds...lol. Or waking up and my prize patch of rose campions has been cut to the ground because Mom thinks they are hiding the Hibiscus....

Now I don't buy anything unless it has enough in the pot to divide 3 ways

Even though we have unofficially divided the beds into 3...it is not written in stone...many times I go out to find things moved around...it's amazing anything survives, I'll put it one place, Hubby will decide it looks better over there, Mom comes along and decides it looks better over here, you get the idea.

I'm sure the neighbours laugh at us all, walking around the yard with a new plant in hand, each of us pointing in opposite directions.......

LOL, that's a riot! Never a dull moment, I bet!

Sandy

I will send in a picture of my Goutweed bank in the spring. I have it in 3 places. Here's one picture where I have it on the back side of the shed. It is almost solid lava rock back there, unsuitable for planting any thing else.

That is one great looking shed! ...and a perfect spot for that Goutweed. You have lava rock? Around here, they sell lava rock, for use in alpine troughs,in specialty nurseries. I bought a small chunk a few years ago. I don't remember exactly how much it was, but I'm sure it was over $10. You are sitting on a gold mine, Lynne! lol

Sandy

No its a very poor quality of lava rock .

Oh, a million bucks just flew out the window! Darn.

Sandy

Here I am in Virginia - the Macaca state as people are now calling it - thinking that mayflowers are trillium - thinking how lovely the woods must be in spring.

inanda

Hello down there in Virginia, inanda! Hope you are enjoying yourself. Isn't it interesting how many different plants are called Mayflowers, depending on where you live. We call Trilliums....well, Trilliums. lol

Sandy