Bugged by Beggarticks

Beggarticks (Bidens)

Annoying natives.  Yes, they exist.  Anyone who’s ever tromped through woods and emerged covered in sticky seedpods knows they are out there lurking, waiting for you or your pet to walk by.  Who are these woodland natives that use passersby to spread their progeny far and wide?  Well, there are several that call my back yard home and two are really, really annoying.

I’ll start with the ones that are more charming than irritating.  Sweet Cicely is a pretty enough plant, with small white flowers and ferny foliage but can be pretty aggressive if it gets enough sunlight.  One of the benefits of having this plant is that it seems to put up a good fight with garlic mustard.  (I like that in a plant!)  However, these plants produce sharp, needle-like seedpods that while aren't that hard to get out of your clothes, they hurt like the dickens if the pointy ends jab your skin. 

Sweet Cicely smells like aniseed but that doesn't
stop critters from munching on them in the spring.

Tick Trefoil (Desmodium) has flattish triangular seedpods that stick like Velcro.  They don’t hurt like Sweet Cicely’s seed pods but it can take a while to get them off your clothes.  The flowers are pink and airy and I don’t mind the plant either, which doesn't seem to reseed aggressively.

Beggarticks (Bidens) is one of the natives that I’ve seriously considered eliminating from my yard.  It has rectangular seeds with pointy “horns.”  If you wander into a stand of these in the fall, you will emerge covered in tons of their seeds.  They can be a challenge to get out of clothing but aren’t as bad as the seeds of Beggar’s Lice and  Enchanter’s Nightshade.  Beggarticks reseed aggressively and can grow so tall that they don’t play nice with other plants.  Last year some in my back yard were almost 4’ tall.

Another native I’d rather not have in the yard is Enchanter’s Nightshade (Circaea).  It has a round Velcro-like seedpod that is completely miserable to try and get out of pet fur or clothing.  I can’t believe I ever thought their little white flowers were pretty and delicate!  These seem to reseed with abandon and I devoted several afternoons last summer trying to eradicate them from an small island bed in my front yard where they were taking over.  Every time I thought I had gotten them all...POP!  There they were again!

Enchanter's Nightshade peeking out from Virginia Creeper

Beggar’s Lice (Hackelia) has round seeds that look like bigger versions of Enchanter’s Nightshade seeds and just the slightest brush past will fill up your pant leg or arm full of the little horrors.  I thought I didn't have many of these in the yard and so didn't have to worry about them but this year I realized that this biennial’s first year basal rosettes were all over the back yard and that I seriously underestimated this plant’s ability to reseed. 

There is really only one plant that I feel has nastier seeds than Enchanter’s Nightshade.  That plant is non-native Burdock and it is definitely not welcome on my property.  Anyone who has run into a patch of these knows how awful their burrs are, especially when the balled burr dissolves in your clothing and you have to pick it out strand by strand.  Ugh!

With the exception of the Burdock, it took me a while to figure out what the rest of these plants were. Because they are natives, I just want to control them, not eliminate them.  There’s a wild part of my yard that has no particular use other than feeding and sheltering birds, bugs and squirrels.  I figure these plants can do their thing there as long as they stay on their side of the 2^nd driveway.  We'll see.

I should be shoveling but...

White skies today.  Haven't seen that in a while and I'm glad we're getting some snow now.  Watching the flakes swirl past my window is strangely relaxing as I am hunched over my computer and working over the hot chocolate I shouldn't be having but am.

Native Tradescantia, probably Ohio Spiderwort

Yep, the snow we had in January didn't last long at all.  Two weeks of weirdly warm, dry weather really did a number on the snow cover.  I've been so worried about all the perennials and shrubs I planted this past fall. I have been watering some of them.  Will spring be drought-y too?  

Anyhow, although I need to go out and shovel, instead I've been working up a garden to-do list and tidying up my disorganized garden planner.  Among my notes I found multiple reminders to get more of a certain plant that I haven't spent much thought on...spiderwort.

Even when it's not in bloom Sweet Kate's foliage looks good

I have two kinds in my garden.  A native that just showed up one year and a cultivar with chartreuse foliage, "Sweet Kate."  Both bloomed well for me this past year.

I'm assuming the native is Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis).  It has a long bloom season but the flowers close up on hot, sunny days.  It doesn't get supplemental watering but seems to be happy anyway and I've noticed some new plants starting to spring up around the bed.  I like this plant because although it reseeds itself it doesn't go crazy.  Also there doesn't seem to be pest or disease issues to worry about.

'Sweet Kate' Spiderwort

'Sweet Kate' also doesn't seem to have any big issues.  When I first saw it in the garden catalogues I thought it was very garish and ugly.  But knowing how easy these plants are, I decided to give it a try when I found a nice specimen on clearance at the garden center.

In my front shrub border, in a dark spot made darker by a couple of mature spruce trees, the chartreuse foliage of 'Sweet Kate' is lovely, not garish.  I have it paired with 'Wide Brim' and 'Sum and Substance' hostas.  I like the contrast of the hosta and spiderwort foliage.

It's curious, though.  Searching the 'net for info on spiderwort cultivars I noticed that often culture is listed as full sun and moist soil but my native plant tends to reseed where there's part shade.  And, it didn't seem to care that I wasn't watering it over the summer despite it having thirsty mature spruces as companions. Maybe the cultivated varieties are pickier?

I don't do any maintenance on mine but I read that cutting them back after a big bloom helps them rebloom and that they can get messy when it's really hot out.  I haven't noticed that myself but maybe summers here just aren't enough to make spiderworts miserable.

So, bottom line is I like spiderwort and I want more of them in my garden.  There are more cultivars on the market every year, including a couple with bi-colored foliage but I think I'll stick to the two I have.  Do you believe me?