Wild & Weedy Wednesday: Tolerable weeds

I'm joining Cathy of Words and Herbs this week for her "Wild and Weedy Wednesday" meme.  I've got a multitude of true weeds in my garden this year.  If there's a positive side to a prolonged drought, it's that there's fewer weeds to pull.  This year we've had more than five times the amount of rain we had in the prior water year (21.69 inches versus 4.12 inches in 2022) and it seems I spend a quarter of my time in the garden pulling weeds.  If I factor in the time I spend thinning out the more decorative, albeit weedy, plants I tolerate in my garden, it's probably more like half my time. 

This post focuses on my five favorite "tolerable weeds."  None of these plants are native to coastal Southern California but all have naturalized here.  One has been officially designated as invasive in California but all are aggressive spreaders.  In spite of this, all are commonly sold by local garden centers.

The first is Centranthus ruber (aka Jupiter's beard), arguably the most vigorous and the most decorative of the lot.  Native to the Mediterranean area, it's been found in wild areas in various western states of the US, including California.  According to Wikipedia, it tolerates alkaline soil and is often found in rocky areas below 200 meters in elevation.  It isn't classified as invasive but I see it along the roadsides here and I've noticed it popping up in many of my neighbors' front gardens.

I didn't introduce it to my garden.  I found it growing in my northeast side garden when we moved in.

However, I did transplant several divisions from that area to my back slope, which was relatively empty before I began developing it in the early years of our residence.  It took off with a vengeance despite very little irrigation.

In my climate, Centranthus prefers our cool spring season.  As temperatures rise, the plants quickly go to seed as shown here at the bottom of my back slope.  I can't deadhead them fast enough.  I need to get down there to cut the flower stalks to the ground but fear of the fire ants has led me to put off that chore.

 

Erigeron karvinskianus (aka Mexican fleabane and Santa Barbara daisy) is native to Mexico and parts of Central America.  It's not officially classified as invasive but the Plant Right site rated it a moderate potential risk in California, especially if it receives moderate water.  It was here when we moved in and it readily moves itself around without any help from me.

In my northeastern side garden, it's intermingled with English ivy (a plant that is classified as invasive in California), making it more difficult to manage

It's a lovely graceful plant when it's getting sufficient water but it starts to look sad and weedy once the rain stops (as shown on the left).  The plant on the right, mingling with a Teucrium aroarium, is doing better in partial shade.

 

Geranium incanum (aka carpet geranium) is a South African native that has naturalized in California.  Like the Erigeron, it moves itself around, although in my garden it's most prevalent in the same areas preferred by Centranthus ruber.  It's not classified as invasive but it's said to get by without irrigation in coastal areas.

In this photo, it's sharing space with Erigeron karvinskianus

The Geranium most often "hides" under taller plants, slowly making its way into the sunlight before it blooms.  In the photo on the left, it's growing up through a mass of rosemary.  In the photo on the right, it's growing up through ivy on the upper edge of the back slope.

 

Unlike the other plants covered in this post, Lobularia maritima (aka sweet alyssum) is classified as invasive by the California Invasive Plant Council.  It's native to the Mediterranean basin but it's naturalized here.  It's said to like sandy soil like mine.  I'm not sure I've every visited a local garden center that didn't have six-packs of this plant in stock year-round.  I admit that I've often purchased it for use as a filler in planted containers.

I don't go out of my way to photograph the ever-present alyssum but this wide shot taken of my back garden in early May provides a good idea of how widespread it is in the landscape.  All of the alyssum shown here was self-planted.

The foreground of this shot, taken at the bottom of the back slope, provides an idea of how much space it covered there.  Pulling it up isn't simple.  The plants have solid taproots and their side roots often extend over a good foot or more.

One of the few closeup photos I've ever taken of the plant.  They love to self-seed between and around flagstones.

 

The last of my attractive weeds is Oenothera speciosa (aka pink evening primrose).  Native to areas of the Midwest, Texas, and northeastern Mexico, it's naturalized in 48 US states but it's not considered invasive, although I've heard many gardeners complain about its spread.  I didn't introduce it here.  It spreads itself around more lightly than the other plants described here.  To date, it prefers my northeast side garden and back slope.

The top photo on the left shows the flowers in my northeast side bed.  The group shown on the lower left was photographed at the bottom of the slope.

It even self-seeds in densely packed gravel

 

Visit Cathy at Words and Herbs to see which wild and weedy plants she's featuring this week.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Pretty Weeds

Years ago, after he retired, my stepfather took up needlework.  I have no idea why.  Maybe just to keep busy, maybe as something to share with my mother.  In any case, he embroidered a picture for me that's hung in one spot or another of our house for 15 or 20 years.  It features 3 children looking down at a weed/flower.

It's often said that a weed is just a plant that's growing in the wrong place.  It's also usually a vigorous plant that spreads with abandon.  Like plants characterized as "invasive," weeds can choke out other plants but I find that the most successful weeds are sneaky.  Some discretely fit themselves in between other plants.  Some have seedlings that resemble the plants they're growing near, making them harder to detect and less likely to be pulled out during their infancy.  And some simply hide behind their pretty flowers, making one hesitate about pulling them out at all.

I have quite a few pretty weeds and now, in spring, they're making their presence known.  When we moved into this house, I found Santa Barbara daisy everywhere.  It had grown over a foot tall in many places and was literally smothering some plants.  I can't say I have it under control yet and, at this time of year in particular, I realize that I probably couldn't eradicate it if I tried.  I'm hoping to achieve peaceful coexistence (someday).

Erigeron karvinskianus (aka Santa Barbara Daisy)

I love true geraniums and have introduced them in my new garden just as I did in my last one.  However, I didn't plant the Geranium incanum that pops up everywhere here.  I cleared entire beds of this plant when we moved in but it has reappeared all over.  Its foliage is distinctive, which makes it easier to detect than other weeds.  I pull it out of most of my beds when I see it but, when it blooms, I cave in and let it stay in some places, especially areas of my dry garden beds where I've had difficulty establishing groundcovers.  I know I may regret my complacence but you have to admit that both the flower and the foliage are pretty.

Geranium incanum

I didn't introduce the Centranthus ruber growing on the property either.  I like the flowers, especially the white variety, but I admit that the prolific reseeding of this plant is driving me crazy.  Every time I see the plant for sale at a nursery I shudder.

Centranthus 'Albus'

I allowed Centranthus ruber to take hold in the bed running along my slope when the area was empty.  Now I'm faced with pulling out seedlings that are encroaching upon plants I purchased to fill the area.

Centranthus ruber

I'm afraid that I was responsible for introducing Oenothera along the slope.  I'd heard it was aggressive but I had no idea just how aggressive.  I thinned the plants shown below a couple of times but I clearly should have done that a dozen or more times.  As my knee takes a beating when I spend a lot of time going up and down the slope, I'm either going to need to accept this plant or recruit a crew of helpers to spend a week with me pulling it out.

Oenothera speciosa (aka Pink Evening Primrose), not yet in bloom

I'd never seen this Lobelia before I moved into our current house.  It's pretty but also difficult to eradicate.  I managed to get most of it out of one bed but I've left a relatively small clump in an area where it's hard to grow anything else.  So far, it appears to be behaving itself rather well there.

Lobelia laxiflora

You probably recognize this next plant as mint, spearmint to be precise.  I know better than to plant this in the ground but the previous owner of this property didn't.  He filled one of the 3 raised planters in the vegetable garden area with it.  I spent an entire week trying to dig it out when we first moved in but I have no illusions that I'll ever be successful in eliminating it altogether unless I take out the raised planter itself (and maybe not even then).  The mint here is actually growing through the wood in the lower section of the planter.

Menta spicata (aka Spearmint)

My last pretty weed is Alyssum.  I have planted this here and there from both seed and 6-packs but it also pops up in many places where I didn't plant it.  However, it's a cooperative weed.  It never overwhelms its neighbors and, unlike most of the others shown above, it's easy to pull out where it isn't wanted.

Alyssum lobularia

What pretty weeds do you have?