Plants that reseed themselves

I have several plants that will reseed themselves in the fall.
I can relate to these plants seeing that I am GOING TO SEED myself.
What I'm wondering is if they can reseed themselves if there is 2" of mulch on top of the soil?
I guess I could give each seed a little miners hat with a light so they could find their way thru the mulch.......
What say you, old wise and trusted web group?
Chuck

I have had 'volunteers' germinate in mulch and in stones. In fact there are a gazillion Star of Yelta MG's in the stones around my pool deck. Nightmare.

Depending on how prolific a reseeder it is, you may want to clear some soil. If you're not sure, clear soil this year and adjust in the future (or ask)
Seedy Dave

I have been pulling up a gajillion volunteer perennial bachelor's buttons and (only) a billion husker red penstemons the last couple of days. They reseeded on top of the mulch, in the dirt driveway, and in a sandy pathway. I'm thinking that they don't much care where they land, they'll just grow. Strange part is that this is the 1st year this has happened, I wonder why.

Yes, they'll reseed on top of the mulch.

Some of the strangest reseeders for me have been 'Zebrina' malva, sedum which probably can wiggle its way into the most infinitesimal crack (as in between tightly fitted bricks) and Johnny Jump Ups (I swear I never planted one of them!) which just seem to suddenly appear (probably the birds). I'm sure Cleome can reseed from miles away as well as Cosmos. And Morning Glory seedlings have a viable life of 80 years - now we only have 77 to go.

Yes, cfarres, I have been pulling Husker Red for two years now. What a mistake. Of course the catalogs rarely warn you.

Oh to have an honest catalog! Might have spared you the Goosneck, too!

True - though in that case (it was Fairweather) I think it was a reversion or possibly a mislabeling.

Catalogs never tell the negative side as in messy, wanderer, invasive to the maximum, destroyer of idle time due to weeding the excess, can't stake fast enough, fallen leaves will leave you bloody (hollies with the nasty leaves), grows fast then dies leaving great vacancies, etc.

Some of these reseeders you all are talking about amazes me. I have never heard of perennial batchelor buttons nor have I ever seen husker's red penstemon. You all are very lucky. I have never noticed that my penstemon (mine are pink and purple) reseeded but I usually find that I get over obsessed with "cleaning" foliage that I probably cut the seeds right off.

I find that my Rose Campion reseeds alot and of course the columbine but I don't mind them re-seeding. Violets are another nightmare as far as re-seeding. I promised myself I would let everything go to seed and not be so obsessed with having everything look perfect *lol*.

What kills me is the "running" plants like Obedient Plant and Campanula *lol* I have to "weed" them out all the time.

Kim

Yes, the runners are a nuisance. We have a fern that runs and I think it secretly taunts me, laughing underground and it winds its way to where I don't suspect a thing. Devil!

Runners? Try Petasites and Gooseneck Loosestrife - they gallop!

Maybe my Gooseneck is just old and tired? It barely limps along - quite like the owner!

I've never had Petasites but have a good doctor if I catch it.

Should any of you have some extra perennial batchelor buttons or huskers red seeds this fall, I would love to try them.
I'm sure I will have something out there that you all would like :)


Kim

I gave my 'Husker's Red' away last year - sorry.

You don't want Petasites, Pirl. No cure.

Fatal, eh?

Aegopodium and Houttuynia are sufficient for me to battle.

Kims, I have Husker red volunteers every where I'll send you some seeds. I always find it so strange how one plant can behave but in a different garden can be a nightmare. I would love 'Zebrina' malva, doesn't like it here and cosmos reseeds a little but could use more
I have Anise Hyssop,Agastache foeniculum haunting me!

Would that be Agastache 'Golden Jubilee'?? I see it everywhere this year too. Good thing is they're teeny and pull out easily.

Agastache is one we can blame on ourselves. I thought the scent of licorice would be so appealing but the seedlings were all over within a year. I know it wasn't the one you mentioned, Victor, but an older one - probably from the early 90's......1990's that is.

That's true for me too. Again, there was no warning of this whatsoever in the descriptions. I wanted the licorice scent AND the bright golden foliage.

That's like Campanula "Elizabeth".....she is SO pretty....BUT....she's EVERYWHERE *lol*.
I keep digging it up and moving it and digging it up and moving it and it just keeps spreading like poison ivy *lol*.
I have told every person that I have ever sent this plant to about it's super invasive trait. If it's this invasive in Maine, I would hate to see how it behaves in a warm climate *lol*. As a matter of fact, today is June 13th and I turned the heat on to take the chill off :(

Lanie, I can't get Zebrina Malva to grow well here either. I used to have it but it died :(

I will have lots of different seeds to share this fall but don't want to promise them out before they actually are ready because I did that one year and we got so much rain that all my seeds rotted :( I SHOULD have plenty of lupines, platycodon, rose campion, and hopefully many others to share :)

Kim

Maybe my problem is I can't tell a seedling from a weedling, and so I just pull up everything little. I wish catalogs (or maybe plantfiles?) would have pictures of the seedlings, so I'd know what to bother keeping. As it is, I even pulled up a couple little echinaceas only weeks after planting them because they looked like some kind of stray grassy weed. Oops!

Oh that's 2 cute Meg, sounds like something I would do *lol*

Kim

Right! Would everyone please take a picture of a seedling and post it BEFORE you pull it out. Frankly, at this stage, I would welcome some volunteer plants - besides, we have a whole terrace we can now fill with flowers - if we get enough plants. :-)

I've done it. I am always fighting Goldenrod and it bears a resemblance to tall garden Phlox foliage so I sometimes make the mistake.

Kim - I can get you seeds. I don't mind saving seeds for people - some I don't save though unless people want them ahead of time.

The 'Zebrina' malva seems to love to grow in tiny crevices - as in sidewalk and driveway cracks and the roots are very deep and very strong. Just a wild guess that it doesn't like rich soil but prefers soil devoid of any nutrition at all.

I wonder if my acidic clay soil saves me from most of this. I've never even had a volunteer Morning Glory.

Speaking of P. Huskers red, I find it to be a wimpy little unimpressive plant. Is that unusual?

OMG Dave, I don't believe it. My wife moved some plants to school and she has MG seeds coming up there - the seed bank from them is incredible. My Husker Red does fine, not an overly long flowering plant so the foliage helps in it's appeal.

Dave - maybe acidic soil really is the answer because a friend grows MG's and Moonflowers every year because she has no reseeeding whatsoever. I found P. 'Husker's Red' as unimpressive, here, as you have in CT.

Al - When the MG's seeds were first on the delete list we couldn't believe how many there were. We really could weed them out until there wasn't one in sight and by late afternoon there were new ones growing. I still pull out volunteers daily.

Are you sure all these things will reseed for me? I must be such a newbie - I still think volunteer plants are a plus :-)

Besides - a group of us want to plant flower gardens on the street terrace - so freebies are great!

Will you be doing the weeding on the street terrace?

Sometimes volunteers are great if they're in the right spot.

You know, I have acidic sand here in Maine and I don't have MG that reseed at all. I have to plant them every year like an annual. This is true of most plants *lol*. Of course, I don't know many reseeders because I have always cut the foliage before they go to seed to "tidy up" and have everything looking perfect *lol* This year, however, I have vowed that no matter how much it drives me crazy to look at an untidy garden I am going to let things go to seed. I seem to always trim things as soon as they are done flowering so waiting for seeds is the hardest thing for me to do. We should all do a fun seed trade this fall :). That would be fun :)

Kim

Yes, of course . . . I and some of the neighbours will have to do the weeding. I am hoping to convince neighbours to help with winter sowing as a source of future plants.

I think of the terrace as a long-term project. A little bit each year until we achieve paradise. :-) In other words, something that looks like your place, pirl.

I hope that if we can create smaller gardens, maybe a neighbour will accept responsibility for that piece of the terrace. Maybe attach the responsibility to the address. Anybody buying number 83 is responsible for daylilies!

This summer will be a real hodge-podge. But, I hope to get a crew of neighbours together this fall to create new gardens for seedlings next spring. :-)

Sorry to throw cold water on this theory but my soil is very acidic and the Star of Yelta MG's increase exponentially. Huskers Red grows very nicely for me. Flowers don't last very long but the foliage is great. Just can't deal with one more invasive so I'm pulling it out whenever I see it.

Kim - For many plants I cut off the blooms if I bought the plant for foliage, not flowers: hosta, some sedums, red-veined dock, chives (!!!), etc. Being OC may deprive you of a few plants but it does have many advantages when it comes to invasive plants.

As with any project involving others, especially neighbors, the fall-out rate of volunteers is probably in the 50% range.....or more. For that reason alone I wouldn't plant anything invasive. A few packets of direct sown seeds might encourage the help of those new to gardening. Zinnias and dahlias do so well from seed directly sown. Perennials are a huge help to fill in spaces and the folks on the daylily threads often offer plants for just the cost of mailing, which is a blessing for a project such as yours.

Thanks for the compliment and remember that getting your volunteers to do maintenance may be even more difficult than the planting or final fall clean-up.

Yes, of course, getting volunteers to weed will be a challenge. I am thinking of naming the mini gardens after their caretakers - maybe getting little name posts made:

Jim Johnsons Cottage Garden - that sort of thing. Might encourage people. Also, I think food helps. Maybe have a Thursday evening potluck bbq on the terrace. People can eat hot dogs, burgers, and weed a bit.

Thanks for the tips on plants. I have ordered dahlia seed - but I didn't know you could sow it directly!

This message was edited Jun 14, 2007 8:36 AM

Sorry, Victor, but I was enjoying my coffee and typed slowly so I missed your post. All you have to do is miss one MG in flower and the problem is back. Preen won't even keep them from germinating.

Seandor - make them weed before the feed!