In the eye of the beholder! Did you ever look at the weeds you pull from your garden? Believe it or not this is a close up shot of a tiny weed, (the flower was less than a 1/4".) When looked at closely, it's a beauty! The second one grows up my fence every year. It has 5 different stages of the flower on the one stem. Pretty and unique!
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Photo: Garden: Beautiful But Invasive Flower (06/13/2009)
If you didn't know any better, you'd think this was a beautiful flower you'd like to have in your garden. True, it is very pretty, but beware, VERY invasive.
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Photo: Garden: Beautiful But Invasive Flower
Archived on 06/13/2009
Beautiful But Invasive Flower
If you didn't know any better, you'd think this was a beautiful flower you'd like to have in your garden. True, it is very pretty, but beware, VERY invasive. I started out with 1 (1 gallon) plant several years ago and that plant sent out roots all around my water garden. Be sure you "contain" it if you don't want to see it EVERYWHERE. It's the devil to pull up and to control!
By Kathy from Canton, NC
Feedback:
RE: Garden: Beautiful But Invasive Flower
What kind is it? A Bachelor Button? (06/25/2008)
RE: Garden: Beautiful But Invasive Flower
I am sure it is not a bachelor button. Kind of looks like a sea holly but not sure. (06/25/2008)
By Elaine
RE: Garden: Beautiful But Invasive Flower
It looks like some sort of wild thistle. Although I am Scottish, and the thistle is the national flower of Scotland. varieties of it are considered noxious weeds in several states. What we see as beautiful flowers are actually natures way of attracting bees to pollinate...so thank you for the warning on this one - it is a pretty flower! (06/25/2008)
I know it is NOT a cornflower nor bachelor button. Wish I had a start. (06/25/2008)
By LAVAUN.
RE: Garden: Beautiful But Invasive Flower
It is called the Mountain Blewett and blooms in PA in mid-late May and then sporadically over the rest of the summer. It will pop up in unlikely places but in Pennsylvania, at least, it is easy to control. (06/25/2008)
By BellaNell
RE: Garden: Beautiful But Invasive Flower
'Centaura montana' is the Latin name of the perennial species and it is known by several common names, Mountain Bluet, Perennial Bachelor Buttons, and Perennial Cornflower.
The annual type is bachelor button or cornflower.
I have a plant of the perennial type, planted in a non-irrigated bed, here in Kansas, and it hasn't spread at all. I suspect the level of invasiveness has something to do with climate and/or location within the garden. (06/26/2008)
To me from what I can tell people in the north call this a lady slipper. Here in the south I have heard them called devil toes. I prefer lady slippers. They can become invasive because of the long seed pods that form on them. They bust open and there are literally thousands of tiny seeds. (06/26/2008)
By MADELINE
RE: Garden: Beautiful But Invasive Flower
I place my bet on Cornflower, related to Milk Thistle, which really spreads in fields here in Texas. I'd check with Ed Baker's Natural Garden Tonic book for a solution to spray on it so it will die out. Don't be tempted to use anything that might harm the soil or make it unplantable.
God bless and help you. : ) (06/26/2008)
By Lynda
RE: Garden: Beautiful But Invasive Flower
It is a bachelor button! So called because it was like a blue version of the pink carnation in the lapel of the married man. It spreads from seed. Deadhead it and it won't spread. (06/29/2008)
FYI I posted this picture. You're right, LAVAUN, it's definitely not a Bachelor Button of the annual variety. shishi (26)wins the prize...it is the Centaurea "Montana". Trust me, I know what it is. Perhaps it does multiply by seeds, but I've never given it a chance to try. Mine multiplies by underground "feeder roots". (06/30/2008)
