over-enthusiastic bulbs
gentian21 (Mon, 05 May 2008 14:00:51 PDT)
Star of Bethlehem has to be the worst. I got "free" bulbs with a bulb order
50 years ago and didn't like it at all so tried to get rid of. I still have
some. Every time I see a bloom in the garden I stop what I am doing and
pull bloom off. I know of a garden (former, LOL) that people think it is a
lawn even though there is no grass at all. Squill is one that takes over
before you can even decide if you want it. My favorite weedy bulb is
Corydalis solida. It can have the whole neighborhood as far as I am
concerned. If only Cyclamen would do that for me. The only other one that I
consider a weed is Pinellia. I really don't consider anything a weed unless
you can't remove them or they spread to the neighbors yard. So something
like Corydalis lutea is easy to pull to keep the ones where you want them.
Frank Cooper
central Illinois, zone 5b
----- Original Message -----
From: "Diane Whitehead" <voltaire@islandnet.com>
To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 3:01 PM
Subject: [pbs] over-enthusiastic bulbs
We have lists of bulbs that do well with no fussing, bulbs that won't
do well even if you do fuss a bit, and now, how about bulbs that over-
extend themselves?
Sometimes these are ones that are difficult to get started, like lily-
of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) and Peruvian lily (Alstroemeria
aurantiaca). Once they decide to grow, however, they're off!
Some produce copious seed and offsets, like Spanish bluebells
(currently Hyacinthoides hispanica, I think) and various Muscari.
I don't think any bulbs invade natural areas on their own, though
Alstroemeria can explode their seedpods and shoot their seeds a short
distance. The more usual method of invasion is by tidy gardeners who
have been observed trundling wheelbarrow loads of them into the
woods. Once there, they spread.
So - what bulbs would you warn against in your area?
Diane Whitehead
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