'Sounds Like Canada in the Summer' on CBC Radio One is having a vote for Canada's worst weed. One of them was nominated by our own Tod Boland. You can view the finalists here -
http://www.cbc.ca/soundslikecanada/features1.html
Take a Photoshop challenge at:
http://www.cbc.ca/soundslikecanada/features.html?2
or download some of the discussion at: http://www.cbc.ca/soundslikecanada/ (scroll halfway down the list)
You can vote by email or by phone, but I'm having difficulty finding the exact contacts on the web site - you might have to listen tomorrow morning.
Ann
Canada's Worst Weed
Which one did Todd nominate?
Sandy
He nominated the thistle. Another was spurge, kentucky blue grass??? the false bamboo, oxeye daisy, probably the entire list is on
http://www.cbc.ca/slc
I voted for the thistle.
inanda
I'm surprised that Garlic Mustard didn't make the list of finalists.
Kevin Sylvester, the host, is an environmentalist, so he must have added Kentucky Bluegrass just to get people thinking about biodiversity, monocultures, land use, wastefulness, and vanity.
http://www.worstedwitch.com/2006/07/20/lawn-order/
BABY'S SLIPPER here !! Or 'Bird's Foot Trefoil (all spelled incorrectly I am sure)
~*M*~
Kentucky Blue Grass was the one. Now I'll have to go see what the heck it is.
Thistle is far worse out here.
G
Isn't KBG one of the grasses in our lawns? I'd vote it as a weed too!! LOL. As I said in a previous thread, the only reason I even have a little bit of grass is that the restrictive covenants on the title of our house require "substantially all" grass in the front yard. Ridiculous.
Joanne
Around here, it's creeping buttercup! (Ranunculus repens)
I absolutely HATE it. You disturb it's ugly long root and it just comes back with vengance!
Here, life in the garden would be easier if we didn't have to battle Yellow Wood Sorrel http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/ontweeds/commonyel_woodsorrel.htm which spits a thousand seeds as soon as you turn your back. Oh, and that awful summer PITA - Prostrate Spurge (can't find a pic right now) that's all over the rock garden.
Sandy
Thanks for positively identifying that. I've always called it wood sorrel, but was never really sure. I agree. My pet peeve weed. Totally resistant to weed killers. Well, I haven't tried Round Up on it. Grows really low to stay healthy under the blades of the lawn mower, but super tall when given the chance. And as you say, those seed pods absolutely explode all over the place when you turn your back. Only saving grace is that if one gets away from you and grows big, the leaves add a nice tang to a salad. And I wonder if the prostrate spurge is the type of spurge that I have growing rampant ever since former next door neighbour started bringing plants back from the cottage up the valley. If you can't find a pic, I'll try to find the one I posted over 2 years ago on the identification forum.
Ann
Euphorbia maculata, also known as Spotted Spurge.
http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.blitzworld.com/Weeds/images_N/DSCN8881.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.blitzworld.com/Weeds/weeds1.htm&h=336&w=448&sz=57&hl=en&start=10&sig2=TMDiVg2cFrk67B3w2aHFyA&um=1&tbnid=inLQ0JK3bo-nmM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=127&ei=zJXZRrj3B4bAiwHv2qWSCQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522Euphorbia%2Bmaculata%2522%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den
Mine's a different type of spurge. It's still a nuisance.
I am fighting horsetail here in my front yard in Lower Mainland BC. Nefarious stuff!
The one that drives me nutty is clover, or oxalis, or whatever the heck it's called. It really grows a good set of roots, and it seems like you never get it all out...
Joanne
I would have to vote for Thistle too. Although the finches and butterflies sure love this weed.
Sharon
thistle, hells bells, clover, plantain, gout weed, cwack, and a whole bunch more i don't even have a common name for. would however like to isolate their tenacity gene and put it in some of my more tender perennials.
My vote would be for either bindweed or Himalayan blackberry...been fighting both of them in my yard. I have a feeling they will both still be here long after I am gone ;-)
Ah, Wendy...
You're right about those two. They are numbers 2 and 3 on my list!