When I first saw this little flower all over the garden last year in late winter, I thought it was pretty. Having a flower bloom in late winter is fun! Little did I know . . . . . In the mustard family, this plant has a basel rosette that winters over, also called cuckoo flower, I can tell you it is driving me coo-koo. Blooms in late winter and is very pretty with a slightly peppery flavor. After flowering, it sets seed and those seeds are spring loaded and pop out and spread with a vengeance as I am learning this spring. Ugh!, another invasive weed, it has been around in milder climes for a while but has now popped up all through our area of PA as well.
When I first saw this little flower all over the garden last year in late winter, I thought it was pretty. Having a flower bloom in late winter is fun! Little did I know . . . . . In the mustard family, this plant has a basel rosette that winters over, also called cuckoo flower, I can tell you it is driving me coo-koo. Blooms in late winter and is very pretty with a slightly peppery flavor. After flowering, it sets seed and those seeds are spring loaded and pop out and spread with a vengeance as I am learning this spring. Ugh!, another invasive weed, it has been around in milder climes for a while but has now popped up all through our area of PA as well.
6 comments:
It is a pretty little "weed". But being so tiny, I imagine it will be very tough to get rid of. I sometimes wonder why the garden can go for so long without some or other "weed" and then all of a sudden it arrives and we struggle with it. Wind, birds, the weather? Whatever the cause --- it makes life interesting. I'm having the most trouble with snails. I never had them until I brought potted (outdoor) plants home with me from my mother's home. There must have been snails in them and our environment here is just perfect for them. Ug! I won't use snail bait, so --- it's a one-by-one --- um --- battle. They are invasive.
I feel your pain!
We have been plagued with this little nuisance for the past three years and my front garden has been invaded with this "cute" little flower. Another gardener friend said it was called Artillery Weed because it shoots its seeds everywhere. I will be weeding my garden today, so I will be waging my war against the Artillery Weed.
Hope you can get ahead of it before it takes over!
"One year to seed; seven to weed."
Mary Jane
I would not like this little plant, no way! Though it is pretty, it would be a pain I can see to get rid of.
Glad to hear I am not the only one who thinks weeds are pretty! I picked something from our yard and brought it in to photograph one time, horrifying my husband, who had a hard time keeping whatever-it-was mown and out of the yard. (But I still say it was pretty!)
What you have is not Cardamine pratensis, but C. hirsuta. C. pratensis is a much less prolific and much more ornamental species.
Thank you to Russell Stafford for correctly identifying this invasive weed. We have changed the post title to reflect the species name.
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