I think it would still be good to have a picture. We get quite a lot of plants 'verified' by master gardeners which turn out to be something quite different. It will be around next year not because the same plants will flower again but because it will have flowered and set seed which will grow next year. It is extremely hardy and will flower all winter in some climates whenever there is a mild spell. The only way to deal with it it to pull every one you see before it flowers. But as Jean says - it is easy to pull up and it can be got rid of. It just takes regular short sessions - they don't have to be 5 hours long. Little and often is the best way of dealing with weeds like this. And they certainly don't warrant either panic or depression. Look on the bright side - you could have bindweed or knotweed. You've learned a hard lesson that monocultures are very risky things. One disease or pest can hit the lot. Mixed plantings are much tougher. You've also learned that bare ground won't last long and annual weeds are perfectly evolved to nip in and take advantage of the clear space. Isn't nature wonderful? BTW if it is Groundsel cage birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc love it as, I believe, do chickens.

Hoyasahoy- Yes! There certainly is life after garlic mustard! I work for The Stewardship Network and we have been holding an annual Garlic Mustard Challenge- last year we pulled 128,000 lbs and this year our goal is 200,000 lbs of pulled garlic mustard! On sites that have been pulled durign the Challenge over the years there have been visible impacts- such as decreasing size and health of the plants, decreasing numbers, and most importantly return of the native fauna. Check out this quote from one of our participants from Oakland County, Michigan: "After nearly 5 years of garlic mustard pulling -- thanks to the efforts of a single community volunteer, Howard Knorr, this spring we saw trout lilies growing back in the riparian floodplain like never before! 'I've never seen trout lilies here before! It's just always been garlic mustard,' Howard commented when we first walked through our work area. We're all looking forward to seeing what else is coming back in this area as the spring progresses. I think this is a great success story on the battle against garlic mustard." -Heather Huffstutler Please report your bags/pounds of pulled garlic mustard to our website so they can be counted towards the 200,000 lb goal! http://www.kintera.org/AutoGen/Contact/ContactUs.asp?ievent=310213&en=arLOIWPwEdLRLWMBKjKKKRNGKmLXJ5NAI8LJIVPALkJUL1PCKfKQJUNDIeJLJ5MUF Also, check out the most recent updates on The Stewardship Network's Garlic Mustard Challenge: http://www.stewardshipnetwork.org/site/c.hrLOKWPILuF/b.5109037/k.3620/2009_Garlic_Mustard_Challenge_Results.htm Thank you and best of luck the battle against garlic mustard- remember you are not alone and there is light at the end of the tunnel! Meghan Hendricks The Stewardship Network garlicmustard@stewardshipnetwork.org Here is a link that might be useful: Garlic Mustard Challenge Results

Sylvia, I can identify a lot with the mother here and went through something similar with my oldest son. (he's not into drugs though) but he moved out because he didn't like my rules, he didn't like my husband, he wanted to be 'man' of the house. One of my problems before I got married was being inconsistent and not following through. The kids walked all over me and if I didn't have the support of my father and my husband to help me stand up to them, I might have not married my husband. Everybody in my family could see that my kids were trying to 'run' my life and it was my dad that finally made me wake up and tell my kids that they are adults and I have my own life. I love them and want them in my life but they are not going to tell me what to do. They would have been happier if I had stayed alone the rest of my life, but that isn't what I wanted. OP says: "She said the kids come first and maybe I'll have to go stay at my mothers or something while she tries to help Jimmy." That doesn't sound like she's part of a united front. I hope he is sharing these messages with her. She really needs to be strong and stand her ground and give her son the conditions that SHE decides for him to move back. My 21 year old came back a couple of months ago and he had to find a job, clean up after himself, a couple of regular household chores, and has a bedtime of 11. Those are more rules than he had when he was growing up because, even though I had the rules, I didn't enforce them and the end result was I got treated like a doormat. It took him a couple of years out on his own (sleeping on my mom's couch for almost a year) to make him appreciate that my rules aren't so bad. He knows I'm the parent that cares about his future and won't let him be a bum. He saw that his 18 year old brother was living at home, following the rules (for the most part), going to college, working a part time job, and had a car. He was 20 and still had nothing and was in the same position as when he left. I think he came back because he knew he needed some guidance and in order to come back, he's had to follow my rules. He's accepted that and is now working and planning out a future. He doesn't 'want' to be here, he'd rather be on his own, but he realizes that he needs to start acting like an adult if he wants to be treated like one.

>>i feel like i`m to blame for his kids turning out the way they have, i feel like i have taken their father away from them as he keeps telling me constantly ...THEY ARE MY KIDS! His youngest was 19 years old when you met him. How are you to blame for the way his kids have turned out? They were already grown when you met them. He wants YOU to adopt his grandson? Um, why doesn't HE adopt his grandson? >>he shouts at me and makes me feel like i`m to blame, if i don't say anything he thinks i don't careAny relationship will take effort, but for the most part it should be a source of comfort and happiness for both parties. If a relationship causes more stress than happiness, then that relationship shouldn't exist.