Snow in summer..looks like it's ROTTING all the time!

Clerondendrum bungii- glory bower... even growing through slats of my front porch!

cypress vines
sweet autumn clematis
vinca
monkey grass
obedient plant (I'm still trying to get rid of that!)
redbud trees--I love them, but hate dealing with the gazillion baby trees that come up every where every year!

I'm sure there a several more that I can't think of right now. This is a great thread. Just wish I'd known back then what I'm learning now. LOL

Monkey grass!! English ivy!! Horrible stuff!!! I cringe when I go to a nursery and see people actually SELLING this stuff!! I tell folks to come to my house and take all that they can carry away with them.

Gail

i'm reading all this and it's good research info, thanks everyone. 3 questions
what is monkey grass (couldn't find a pic)
what is probl with toad lily (looked nice when i looked it up)
liriope, does it get too big? i had some in Miami it got kind of big, i didn't know it spreads by seed. how about in North florida?
thanks brigitte.klein@airbus.com or echoiv@bellsouth.net

Monkey grass=border grass

good post! I hate my neighbors and plan on buying some seeds of these for their garden!

Lol, J/K!

I am not going to plant mint after reading this though!

Great thread. My solution to the thugs is to dig them up and plant them in my isolated border in front of a black walnut tree where the herd of deer like to browse the catbriar. Two lambs ears survive but don't bloom and one secretsea (sp) purple wandering jew type survives but doesn't spread much. Ruellia kicked the bucket there as did oenoethera (thank goodness). Anything that can tolerate the poison of juglone and the hooves and teeth of the deer are welcome in that bed (except for the poison ivy).

Bamboo!!!

Ladybug your weed is called Florida Betony..I have finally gotten rid of it, I hope. I sprayed it with Roundup as the new growth was coming up this spring. I now have dead spots in my St. Augustine grass, small price to pay for dead Betony. Felder Rushing advised me what to do and when to do it and so far it has worked!!

Now, if I could just get rid of Vinca. I wasn't able to work in my gardens last year so I didn't see it multiplying, it has totally covered one bed and trying to invade the lawn. Gotta call Felder about this one also.

I could have lived without Periwinkle. I found a few plants at the end of my yard and planted them near the house. Soon, they had covered the yard and were even climbing up a retaining wall. Another one that tried to take over is orange cosmos. Planted a few seeds and they multiplied into thousands.

Friends don't let friends plant four o'clocks.

Mint is not something I would ever put in my flower bed again. Did that years ago when I was first starting out. Now I plant mint in a container and it makes some really good tea in the summer!

In my house in MD, I planted mint along the walkway. That was a BIG mistake. It get ugly if you dont' keep it short, and it takes over like ants at a picnic.

Canna Lillies & Elephant Ears, yikes, if I only knew then what I know now!

I despise liriope! And 4 o'clocks. Then there is this certain wild variety of gladiola I found growing by the road and planted at our old house. Pretty thing. There was roughly 5 million plants of it in our yard when we moved. Was glad to move away from the wisteria...was starting to have nightmares about it engulfing the house.

I'm wondering if maybe a key component of some of these plants is where the plant is located in your yard. Does it have optimum conditions for growth? Is it confind in some way? Oh yes! Nandina. I can't for the life of me believe that someone would actually spend money on nandina!
dell

I say beware of any plant your well meaning friends pass along to you. Research it all first! I have been "given" so many invasive plants over the years and just put them out without a thought. My worst invasives are now mint, trumpet vine (Chinese variety) which MAY be gone this year after using Roundup BRUSH removal. We shall see. English Ivy (covers everything for miles), lirope (Monkey Grass) and Purple SpiderWort. The ivy is so invasive it's tangled with nearly everything and very hard to remove without ruining everything else in the garden. ugh.
I don't have a problem with Morning GLories for some reason but am very worried about the gifted 4 O'clocks after reading this post. I guess I 'll pull them up as I see them this year. I've had them for just one year now.
Just a mention on ROSES - There are so many varieties besides the Hybrid Teas you see at Lowes/HD. Try the antique varieties that require no spraying. You'll find many, many carefree types besides the Knock Outs that are almost invasive these days :)

Ah. I needed a good laugh. You guys are great and this thread has inspired me to laugh at my own adventure cleaning out Rhapis palm.

It's such a pretty plant and a slow grower that it's probably not a problem for anyone else...until you want to take it out. It created a mesh of roots with the big oak in our front yard. TWO weekends of 8 hours a day gettin' that sucker out. Hopefully we haven't killed the tree in the process.

definitely monkey grass - I planted just a few and the stuff has just taken over - It looks like a grass weed in my garden- My sons and I are currently pulling it all up - trying to separate it from everything else - then replant the stuff we are keeping.

Love your comments, gives me some ideals of what I can plant where nothing grows. I enjoy many of those some don't want as they grow where nothing else does. For those who are trying to kill, first vines, get a large Zip-Lock bag and take the ends of the vine and place it into the bag then add stump killer then Zip it close and securer, it will drink until it dies all the way to the root. You may have to re-fill from time to time. For large tree-bushes, drill a hole 2"+ and insert a piece of PVC, fill with stump killer and cap. Check from time to time a fill if needed. As for the rest of those plants I just weed them out as I have to weed all the time here in my area anyway so they go the way of all weeds if needed. If not I enjoy them like the rest of my flowers.

Bee Balm. I planted it 16 years ago, grew it for one season, and then decided I didn't want to keep it so I pulled it all out. Unfortunately, I'm still pulling up seedlings each year. It's amazingly resilient.

Wild Purple Violets have a tough root to get out. They are everywhere! Also, Wild Ageratum, I pull it up all summer in all my flower beds and still have it everywhere. Also, obedient plant! I pull it out all summer and some still blooms. Varigated Vinca is taking over one bed - hate it also.

I don't know what 'wild ageratum' is. I have an abundance of perennial ageratum mixed with blackeyed susans(another thug) and I just dig the excess and plant it elsewhere. Up North, it was very obedient and stayed near a gutter downspout in sandy soil.
Down here it loves the moist clay, loves it a bit too much but the flowers are so pretty for cutting.

Let me add to my hate that I planted it list..
Lemon balm/melissa. Give it enough moisture and no amount of glyphosate or brush killer will destroy it permanently.

I go with the vinca too, also the violets and Nandina. I've managed to rid myself of the vinca, but the violets are awful. Coming from up north, I thought they would be fine but wow, was I wrong. The nandina is controllable, but I found out after I planted that it is considered a nuisance species. The worst part is the birds don't ever eat those beautiful berries. I hate to tear it up, but I'm feeling a bit guilty about having it.

ohhhh, I hate to have to break this to you, but getting rid of the nandina is not going to be fun. There was one growing at our former house that I would attempt to dig out every year for the 18 years we lived there. I never won the battle. The first year I dug up a huge chunk of the root, probably 2 feet long and 4-5 inches across. And the plant was only 3 feet tall! And elderly neighbor stopped by and watched for awhile and then laughing said, "you may as well give that battle up right now because there's no way you are going to win."

Location is everything.

In my yard in Miami, mint thinks it's an annual, my one Four o'Clock has behaved itself, and the type of Monkey Grass or Lirope that I have refuses to grow enough to fill in its assigned spot in the yard.

However Pine cone Lilies (ginger), Macho Ferns, and Ruella grow too well. My worst mistake though is a pretty purple shrub that I planted (can't remember it's name) but's it's becoming a real problem.

Not something I planted, but I wish that the previous owners of my house, or perhaps owners of neighboring houses, never planted asparagus fern because it is everywhere.

1) SPIDERWORT! Look'd fantastic at the chap's property who sold it to me: nice 'n neat, tall 'n proud. Mine? - surely the plant's misspelled ... 3 years later it looks like a "wart" alright. A warty toad hopping all over the back gardens in places they are not allowed to play. They'd root inside a rock in an underground cave if there was a wee hole to blow a seed into.
2) JAPANESE ANEMONE - Pretty "as a picture". Blooms are lovely (10 days/yr). Super as a woodland filler but no way can I catch up to their Olympian runners! They got a head-start. They slide under pavered pathways and come up in my hometown 1200 miles away!

As for the chap who says "Snow 'n Summer Jasmine" (beautiful variegated palette of pink-white-green colours...See Snap Below) - what conditions are yours planted in that it "...always looks rotten"? �Just purchased my 1st two and I'm in Love. Am I to prepare myself that this affair is going to break my heart? Hope you're still tuning in.

No one told me a box of Depends was necessary b/4 reading thru' this thread! This would be an hilarious face-to-face forum of "forget-me-nots"!

Spider plants escaped from a pot and are absolutely an invasive perennial. Another vote for asparagus fern.

Why does everyone hate Four'o'clocks? Been a long time but wondering if everyone was referring to Mirabilis jalapa? Is there another plant called 4'o'c? This is one of my all-time favorites and it's been extremely hard to get any going. Finally got some seeds to sprout this year.

None I can think of but what I were had never been planted or took seed are privet and Japanese honeysuckle. I just hope the infamous Kudzu doesn't get here. I don't use pesticides nor herbicides except acephtate for the fire ants, so I don't know how I'd handle the Kudzu.
Leeflea.

I didn't plant them, but our house came with 6 Loquat trees. Nothing can grow under them because they drop seeds constantly and the area is covered... COVERED, with baby trees. Also, the house came with a Papaya tree. They're the fastest growing, dirtiest thing I've ever planted. Leaves and fruit falling constantly, and rotting immediately. Gross.

I rent and there are morning glories EVERYWHERE here. Of all colors in every inch of space in the yard and even popping up in the yard. There was also a big pile of metal fencing in the corner of the yard, so I nailed those to my wood fence, planted Cardinal Climber and moonflower in two locations as well.

I had a gorgeous cascade of foliage with very large leaves and tons of flowers growing from one side of the fence, all the way up and over to the ground in the front. So I loved them...but they are absolutely everywhere.

But I'm worried now that I'll have to deal with pulling up Cardinal Climbers and moonflower vine as well as morning glories this spring. And I want to try black-eyed Susan vine and Spanish Flag and Canary Climbers this year too. Yikes.

I also have what I think is wisteria growing on a trellis and it was reaching way up into a gorgeous tulip tree and choking it out. Luckily my dad brought his chainsaw when he came to visit! But it's back again.

Our house came with liriope planted in every spot where they could stick it. It have ripped it out and dug it out, but it comes back year after year. It is a very common groundcover in this area, but whatever variety was planted in our yard is scraggly and unappealing.

The wisteria I have is a scarlet color. Going to remove it this week. As the house is getting painted. Whatever species this one is it has not overtaken the house. Its been close to 6 years. since I planted it. But this weekend feels like a good time. =] Hubby wants moon flowers and four o'clocks, I am hesitant after reading this.

Parrots feather. I was told that it would take over. Still fighting it.

Oh my gracious Bolivian Jew! I thought it was beautiful in the basket when I bought it, until it grew to the ground. Then got flung into the lawn from the lawnmower. Years and years and years! I have sprayed, pulled, and crossed my fingers, and always... a new patch. Invading the lawn, invading the garden, invading the woods on the other side of our fence. Winter will come and it will be gone and I'll think maybe, just maybe. But always, always, always...

I have to chuckle at that Alicia. 8 years ago, our home came pre-saturated with purple wandering jew. 8 years later I am still trying to get rid of it all. Just when you think it's licked...

Ditto on cypress vine. My cousin gave me some and called it "humming bird plant". I have been trying to eradicate it for about 8 years now. Also, Mexican petunia. I can't believe the nurseries sell it. I think I have finally dug up/killed all of mine.

Campi radican -trumpet vine, spearmint in veg garden, mondo grass,... All spread via rhizome... Near impossible to eradicate

I like a lot of the plants you named.

I never planted a plant that I did not like.

I hate wild garlic(not wild onion), Wild Dewberry & Coastal Bermuda, but I did not plant them.

They came with the ten acres of land & I have fight them organically for ten years.

A friend who uses Round Up, said it will not kill these weed with as many as 3 applications.

So you can guess how hard it is with out those short cuts.

I didn't plant it, but wisteria. We inherited it when we bought our house. It has literally created a jungle in our back yard. You can swing from the vines like you are Tarzan.

Wisteria gets a rotten reputation because of the Asian species which are highly invasive. Plant the native species, Wisteria frutescens. I have Longwood (Garden's) Purple, no problema!

How about Virginia Creeper? A neighbor planted it years ago, and now it pops up, climbs trees, and kills them. Thing can cover a tree in a month or two?

Times like these are when we get a good sized freezer ziplock bag and some stomp killer. Stuff the plant-vine into the bag then pour in the stump killer and let it drink itself to death. Of course this is when nothing else works.

Wonder if that works on Johnson grass. I didn't plant it but my husband bought some topsoil that had it in it apparently, because it started in that one spot and has grown and grown and spread and spread, after pulling, digging, mowing, and last resort round-up. it has big runners under the ground and if you don't get them all, it just comes back in more places.

country girl the only thing I found works is not to let it go to seed, chop it down, cover the stubs and secure down a layer of contractors grade black plastic (bag cut open) slightly perforated with knife and pour lots of water on it. Deprived of light and drowned to mush over the winter, mine was gone the following spring ..it and that darn Japanese stilt grass. Trick is to keep watering it in the winter. If you've got a problem larger than a 6' square better to just dig it up.

That garden was an oval 50' by 30'. We dug up all the bulbs we could find and have done away with it. I may put plastic to keep it from coming back because I would still love to use that area for my roses.

Asiatic jasmine. OK in commercial plantings under tough conditions and surrounded by concrete. Extremely invasive in home gardens. Highly resistant to roundup. Difficult to eradicate because any little piece of root left will regrow!

.

Callisia repens. Didn't plant it myself, but a previous owner of my home must have. Now it is everywhere in the yard. Grows up any plants I put in the ground, and strangles the smaller ones. Swamps out grass in the yard too, covering it, then building up moisture to the point it rots. I pull it, and it grows back from the smallest roots. Roots on concrete in full sun, and drinks roundup with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Wow, what a great thread! The bane of my yard existance over the last 15 years has been English Ivy overtaking the entire back yard and trees in a wooded setting from 8 small plants 12 years ago planted to cover a small bed. Tried to control with cutting and spraying but it just keeps popping up and is almost impossible to remove from trees. Next on my list is Vinca Major, pertty flowers but extremely invasive, pull, pull, pull and yet it comes back every year. And last but not least, Wisteria! What an invasive plant, spreads via runners and will grow 12" overnight. I think these are the plants that covered the Inca monuments with their growth rate. Ha!