When my mother started her first garden, more than 70 years ago, she took a cutting, whilst on a walk around her village, of 'a very pretty blue-flowered vine' to grow on a trellis. All these years later, remnants of it still haunt that garden, self-seeding, layering and twining energetically around any structure, despite decades of trying to eradicate it. It was, of course, morning glory (Ipomoea indica), one of the scourges of Sydney gardens, often innocently planted by those seduced by its flamboyant blooms, which are amongst the bluest of all flowers.
I too have been prey to some attractive-looking plants - some from friends' gardens, some bought from nurseries - that have turned out to be monsters that have tried to completely take over my garden. Sometimes we are misled by gardening books from overseas, where these plants are quite well behaved (or even hard to grow, requiring nurturing in glasshouses to survive) in cooler climates than ours, and where they are promoted as desirable specimens for any discerning gardener. This is another aspect of climate-specific gardening that I have come to be aware of over the years.
The bad plants I have known fall into several categories of takeover tactics (and some plants use more than one strategy to ensure their domination, and somehow you just have to grudgingly admire their amazing will to survive): excessive self-seeding; proliferous ability to reproduce bulb offsets; a capacity for tenacious layering of roots from stems that touch the ground; and the ability to multiply by fleshy underground suckers, roots or tubers, the slightest bit of which is left behind will form a new plant. It's probably the latter plants that are my worst enemies, because they are just so hard to exterminate and much of the infiltration is going on stealthily underground before one realises. Interestingly enough, these plant thugs often have ravishing flowers that enchant hapless gardeners, as if this is all part of their plan to conquer the universe.
Tricyrtis hirtaAs a cautionary tale to others, I will outline some of these latter plants that I have battled in my own garden. One is the toad lily (Tricyrtis hirta). I fell under its spell when I was still a victim of English gardening books and trying to grow the plants featured in them. The toad lily is a cherished plant in northern hemisphere woodland gardens and its flowers are indeed exquisite: beautifully formed and speckled with purple dots. A friend (who shared my passion for such plants) had obtained a specimen and brought me a tiny piece wrapped in tissue paper, which I reverently planted - in rich soil in a special place in the garden. I did get some of the gorgeous flowers, but also found that it spread like wildfire by underground stolons. I am still digging it out.
Salvia uliginosa, the bog sageSeveral Salvia plants that I acquired when I first got interested in this genus, more than 35 years ago, also proved to be fiends in my previous garden in Ryde. I was captivated by the gorgeous azure flowers of bog sage (Salvia uliginosa) when I first clapped eyes on it, and carefully planted it in pride of place in my front garden. It was only when it started to come up metres away from this spot that I realised something was amiss, and upon digging it up, I found a tangled mass of suckering roots going in all directions; I ridded myself of it only by moving to a new house. Salvia guarantica (and its cultivar 'Black and Blue') were other plants that I was enthralled by: they had stunningly rich blue flowers. I soon discovered that they developed large, woody tubers that multiplied with alarming speed and sent up new plants, and it was very hard to get rid of every last one of them. Luckily, most other Salvia do not behave like this and are worthwhile garden plants. The plant that I later bought under the name Salvia guaranitica Large Form, has been well behaved for a number of years and it has the same stunning flowers.
Eomecon chionathaAnother very pretty flower that caught my eye in my early gardening days was called the Chinese wind poppy (Eomecon chionantha). It looked the most innocent of blooms: very much like a beguiling white poppy, with interested scalloped-edge leaves. It was said to like shade: another great advantage, thought I, as I lovingly planted it in good soil in a shaded bed near my hellebores. Alas, it too proved to have a hideous rhizomatous root system that sent up new plants within a 2m-radius, getting in amongst other plants so that it is very difficult to dig up completely. I still fight it, 18 years later.
Alstroemeria psittacinaMany years ago I was given a plant called 'New Zealand Christmas bell', with a variegated leaf (Alstroemeria psittacina - not from New Zealand at all but native to Brazil). The flowers looked very vaguely like the Australian Christmas bell (Blandfordia grandiflora) and I thought this could look good as a groundcover under a tree. I soon discovered that the large tuberous roots multiply with great speed and are almost impossible to get rid of. I dig up hundreds of the claw-like tubers each year and yet up they still pop the following spring. The plain-leafed version is just as rampageous. The larger-flowered Alstroemeria hybrids have a similar root system, and although I do grow and enjoy these plants because of their stunning flowers, so useful for vases, Sydney gardeners should be aware that these too can form huge clumps over time and are probably just as hard to get rid of as their invidious cousin. The compact-growing forms (often sold as 'Princess Lilies') now often seen in nurseries are possibly not as invasive but should be watched with care, or grown in pots to be on the safe side.
Clerodendrum bungeiAnother wicked plant that I was charmed by was Clerodendrum bungei. I already had several lovely Clerodendrum plants in my garden, including Clerodendrum wallichii and Clerodendrum ugandense and I thought this specimen, with its big clustered heads of pink blooms, like a giant Pentas, would be a fabulous shrub. However, it turned out to be one of the worst suckering plants I have had yet in my garden, sending up woody stems metres from the original plant. Other plant thugs I have known and fought include the pink evening primrose (Oenothera speciosa), some forms of Artemisia (including a particularly noxious one known as 'Oriental Limelight'), Lysimachia ciliata 'Firecracker' (which had brilliant burgundy foliage) and a few Achillea.
The best advice I can give is to observe any unfamiliar plant carefully and remove it (into the garbage bin) if it shows the first sign of spreading aggressively. It might even be a good idea to keep new plants in pots for a little while to see if they have any bad tendencies. The ideal time to tackle them if they are going berserk in your garden already is when the soil is moist after rain (like right now!). I rarely use herbicides, but in some very recalcitrant cases, it may be necessary. There is an organic-based one available now based on plant oils that works pretty well. Sometimes it is possible to harness bad plants: in areas where nothing much else will grow, or spots where you really don't mind something taking over. Some people have told me that they have bog sage growing in wild parts of their garden, and they love it! In rich, moist soil, Japanese windflowers are on the borderline of being invasive, spreading by underground stolons - however, if you have an area that can be bounded off by a path, that you want filled with a groundcover that gives truly glorious autumn flowers, they come up trumps, and I have them in my garden in just such a position, roaming amongst Hydrangea shrubs - and looking absolutely fabulous at the moment ...
Blog first posted 18 March 2012; updated 13 March 2022.
I would add some ginger plant tubers to this list. I spent yesterday digging up tubers that spread just as you said about the lily above, popping all over the place and hard to follow through without disturbing other plants. Thanks for adding that one. I do have one sort of ginger and I find it very hard to dig out the tubers. Deirdre
Add Agapanthus (now invading our orchard) and a Salvia with a corrugated leaf which comes up everywhere Jackie It would be interesting to know the name of that Salvia to add to the "bad" list. Agapanthus do seem to multiply rapidly by their tubers and also by seed and need to be watched. I try to keep them contained by paths. Deirdre
I too carefully brought home Alstroemeria psittacina years ago. It also spreads by seed and found its way from the front to the back garden.I did defeat Salvia uliginosa though. I think many of us seem to have faced the same battles! Glad you got rid of the salvia. Deirdre
Hi Deidre - loved Alstroemeria psittacina when I first was gifted it years ago but yes tis sooo bothersome but at the time reminded me much of Christmas Bells growing in wild abundance when I migrated to Coffs Hrbr as a nine year old back in 1949. Believe agapanthus declared noxious in NZ. Maureen Thanks, Maureen. That Alstoemeria did seem very pretty when I first got it! Deirdre
Yes Deirdre, I think you"ve found them all .. !!! I think I would also add Costus comosus "Red Tower" to the thug list for Sydney as I"ve made the mistake a few years ago and seen it monster everything in its path .. !! Have not grown that Costus but will avoid it - thanks for the tip! Deirdre
We moved into the Adelaide Hills a few years ago, and have made little inroads on the ivy & the pink trumpet flower on our property which had taken over the neighbour"s large tree. All massive roots severed, but the ivy is drawing it"s sustenance now from the tree. Help! Sounds scary. You may have to use a herbicide for this one. Deirdre
Hi Deirdre, I have also battled with bog sage and salvia guaranatica. I have beaten the bog sage but guaranatica is another matter completely and I don"t think I will ever win the battle. I feel guilty about giving it to other gardeners years ago before I realised its nasty habits. I think we all did the same thing thinking these were great plants. Nurseries actually sold them, too! Deirdre
Hi Deirdre, I have defeated Bog sage, but I am ripping out that Toad Lilly,and the Chinese wind Poppy, right now and I have fallen victim to , Is it Verbena? That seems to go right through the garden, but is greatly prized in Northern Hemispere. So glad that you were taken in too,not just me! Maree Do you mean Verbena bonariensis? It does self-seed a lot though I find it easy to pull them up. It hasn"t suckered so far in my garden. I don"t mind a bit of it here and there but I pull out a huge number every year. Deirdre
My particular nemesis is the orange flowering Cape Honeysuckle - it is invidious, invading whole garden beds and requiring mammoth efforts to get all of the roots and suckers. I guess Pampas Grass is my other gripe - we had to grub out 2 huge clumps when we moved to our present house...what a job! I agree that orange Cape honeysuckle is a monster. I have never had it myself but know someone who has it. It may need Round Up to totally control it. I remember when pampas grass was all the rage for gardens - scary to think about it now. Deirdre
When I moved in my garden was a mass of Morning Glory, Cotoneaster & a huge thicket of Spindle Bush (Euonymus) which had succered wherever it touched the ground. P. argentatus can be a bit of a thug, as well as Tahitial Bridal Veil, although reasonably easy to control if you keep a close eye on them. Yes, I think vigilance is very important with these sorts of plants. Deirdre
I grow a yellow Cape Honeysuckle & find if I keep it trimmed to a neat hedge & remove vigorous new growth I keep it in check. My previous neighbour managed to maintain the orange form as a very neat small shrub, no doubt with lots of pruning! Raspberries can also take over a garden bed very quickly. I haven"t grown any of these but I have seen an orange cape honeysuckle take over a whole garden! Deirdre
I have an ongoing battle with the Blue Passion Flower (Passiflora Caerulea) often used as a rootstock on grafted passionfruit. I planted a grafted passionfruit years ago and the rootstock spread underground all over the place. It comes back as fast as I can remove it. This is in NSW, I've heard it's banned in Victoria. I have had the same issues with a passion fruit vine. Very difficult to deal with. Deirdre
I got a piece of Silene vulgaris (just the name should be a hint) from my mother's garden despite her warning me not to. When I was in grade 3 we took a posy of flowers for our teacher each week, and one week my mother included this silene. My teacher asked me about it and really seemed to recognise it and like it. Her interest inspired me many years later to put it in my garden and although it isn't too bad, it is difficult to control. I would not recommend choosing it. Thanks for your comment. I have never been able to grow any silenes; our climate seems too humid for it! Deirdre
Beguiled also by plants, which look enticing, but turn out to be thugs. Admired Tricyrtis in a friend's garden, planted it, but removed it successfully), Eamecon, which still invades, 20 years later and the 'New Zealand Christmas bush', brought from my mother's garden, which I appear to eradicate, only for a few plants to appear from time to time. Another nuisance, with pretty, vibrant blue flowers, is Commelina cyanea - tradescantia-like in appearance, but it quickly takes over. Yes that commelina is a pest! Deirdre
What about onion weed? On one of our trips to the Chelsea Flower Show my husband spotted pots of it at the front of the allium stand. I was so embarrassed as he told the grower in no uncertain tones that our forefathers brought the wretched thing to Australia and what a pest it has become. The grower, amazed, informed my husband that it is cherished in England as the smallest of the allium family!!! So hard to believe that people grow it there! It has been one of the banes of my life though I was heartened recently after a trip to see my daughter - in her garden, where there had been a bad patch of it in her front garden, that she had been able to get rid of it by constant vigilance - this did take about a year! Deirdre
I have a rampant Moonflower vine and Acanthus plants, constantly trying to get rid of underground and overground runners, one originally planted for the night flowers the other for the decorative leaves. I did not t realise the moonflower could do that - mine generally dies each year as our winters can be a bit chilly. the acanthus can really never be got rid of once planted so needs to be thought about before introducing it - though I must say I do admire its bold leaves and flowers. I always remove the flower spike before it can self seed as that is another way it spreads. Deirdre
Hello Deirdre I have just planted Tricyrtis formosiana which is labelled Garden Orchid Shooting Stars Would it be the same as hirta as it is obviously from the same family. If so I will get rid of it immediately. thanks Mariee I must say I would not trust any toad lily in Sydney. I think in cooler climates maybe it is not such a pest. Deirdre
Alstromeria Aust Christmas bells sprung up unplanted! I love these beauties which do well in a vase. For years I had no name until a friend visited and told me the common name. We have a one meter spread and keep a close watch. Thanks Deidre today I learned the botanical name! We put them in a vase at Christmas! Deirdre
Our sub tropical climate is a magnet for thugs to thrive. In my previous garden I unwillingly planted bog sage, never again & Crocosmias, Ochnas & cotoneasters were a pest there too.i planted Salvia Amistad here years ago, what a thug. Love it but you need masses of space as it sends out suckers, Amante just as bad, Joan a real pest and I dug out my Hotlips. So many Salvias are just too rampant and huge, Involucratas are thugs and Ive got the space but they need watching!!! I do find that Amistad and Joan spread but so far have not become a complete pest - I rein them in each year. Also Savia madrensis has to be kept under control but I still love its yellow spires! Deirdre
I bought tricyrtis lasiocarpa 'taipei silk' just recently Deirdre, do hope its not a problem. Many Plectranthus take over but easy to pull. My biggest problem is a native grass which was here, its so hard to pull out, I leave it in the Naturalistic garden but its coming up everywhere, paths dont stop it! Hardenbergia another problem, climbs over everything in its path. This latest rain has turned our gardens into jungles complete with bull ants, leeches and snakes!!!! Maybe some toad lilies are OK - if there is enough space maybe they will not be a problem. Yes some grasses do self seed a lot. I had not realised Hardenbergia can become rampant! Definitely a lot of things have gone wild after this rain! Deirdre
I am reading this after today doing battle with my nemesis the toad lily....I cannot bear to pull all of it out as the flowers look delicate where they are in the garden but boy you are right to call it a thug it gives me a good workout at least twice a year Yes those pretty flowers are what reeled me in all those years ago! Deirdre
Thugs in my garden include Wisteria, and the wild iris (Dietes), both of which were in my garden when I arrived. I also have toad lily, and the thuggish Salvias mentioned above, but they have not become pests (yet). As for Commelina, I absolutely detest this weed: apparently it can be eaten, but my poultry wont even touch it. Ugh yes Wisteria can be a nightmare with its suckers - I have it in various spots coming from a neighbour. Also the Dietes, which self seeds for years after the original plants were removed. Deirdre
Struggling to rid Eomecon from the garden for years after I bought the plant from a nursery in Victoria. I love Tricyrtis, but it too has gone mad even installing itself on a rock ledge - Persicaria virginiana has been here as long as we have - a lovely leaf but its not called 'jumpseed' for nothing. I rip it out but leave one or two as it brightens shady spots. Plectranthus too is a bit weedy but easily removed. Commelina and onion weed are the bane of my garden life. Yes I have had that Persicaria and I leave a couple of them. The Plectranthus do self seed but are easy to pull up and I love them at this time of year when in bloom so could never be without them. Deirdre
Ah yes Deidre-Alstromaeria! Each year I try to eradicate it from one area: when we bought our place, the backyard garden was overrun with it! I do like it at Christmas-but in a pot only! Growing any of these things in a pot is the perfect answer (unless they self seed!). Deirdre
My hate list: clerodendrum splendens spread by rhizomes/stolens; grass palm Molineria capitulata, spread by rhizomes/stolons, but a relentless spreader; and above all, Cats Claw (yellow flowered vine), with its multiple deep set tubers. These plants can swamp a garden in a couple of seasons. Herbicides for the first two and for the latter deep trenches, then backfill, . Or for all three, perpetual deep digging - in extremis: excavation and replacement with new soil. Then strict policing. I agree that cats claw is a rotten thing; it grows in our shared driveway. I do not think we will ever totally get rid of it. Deirdre
A lot of emotion here! One addition might even be the delightful native violet. I had it growing as a splendid substitute lawn down a shady slope, but when introduced into my garden proper, it spread out so vigourously that it grew up and over nearby bushes, covering them in a green shroud! A good friend but a bad enemy. Yes it can certainly take over and we have to be careful of it. Deirdre
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