Phytolacca americana "Pokeweed"...birds love the berries.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pokeweed

This is Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana, generally considered a weed.

now that you have the name.. GW search brings up 13 pages of posts about it ...

my thoughts are contained at the link .. one might get the idea i do not like them.. lol ...

i killed about 50 of them last week ...

its VERY poisonous ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

next year I move it to the fence side

Get rid of it now! At the very least, don't let it set seed...I made the mistake of thinking it was kinda pretty last year and now I am faced with a never-ending army of seedlings...

you are joking right leah?????

every single one of those seeds will sprout.. in your garden. and anywhere else the birds will carry them..

and if the kids eat the berries.. you will have supreme medical bills ...

in this case.. free is NOT best ...

dont forget.. they are near impossible to kill short of chemicals or dynamite . ... [though i have to admit.. i never tried transplanting one.. but since you will not get all the root.. you will then have at least 2 ....]

oh i see.. you probably didnt see my reply when you replied.. since they were one minute apart ...

ken

"Thick central taproot which grows deep and spreads horizontally" - removing when younger may be better than moving when older, save yourself some work ;)

OK, I read most pokeweed posts, just get rid of this plant from my garden. Many thanks, everyone.

This plant dies very easily in wet winters. I've killed it twice without any effort. I'm from zone 7 in Denmark, but I only kan keep plants marked as hardy in zone 5 in the US.(very little or no snow cover)

Yes, get rid of it! We took down a huge tree last summer. Dh pulled/dug up all that tree's roots in May this year. In late June something started to sprout in the 15' diameter 'disturbed' site. Here is a pic of Dh removing what was growing there last week. The blossoms had begun to form on the poke weed that had taken over that spot. Where it came from, we haven't a clue. Have never seen it growing anywhere on our 1 acre lot.

{{gwi:259575}}

Phytolacca americana seeds can remain viable for decades, waiting for the right conditions to sprout. It is a native, if that's of interest to you. I've never had one live through the boiling water treatment if I couldn't pull the whole plant. Compared to a tree seedling, it's an easy weed to pull.

What confuses me most about this plant is that birds can eat it but humans can't?? One survival lesson I was always taught is that if the animals are eating it, it's probably safe to consume.

More information than you ever wanted to know about Pokeweed at the link below. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Pokeweed

This is not true. I've observed my chickens ate the whole plants of delphiniums, which are toxic to humans.It can also go the other way around. It is said that chocolate is toxic for dogs(can ruin kidneys)

Sure is pretty though :o/

I have mixed feelings about this plant, because it is native and the birds LOVE the berries. It attracts all sorts of interesting birds, such as Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings, Thrashers, Catbirds, Cardinals, Robins.

On the other hand, when I had Norway Maples removed, zillions of Pokeweeds sprouted under one of them. A few would be delightful, a thousand is not so delightful. I'm still trying to get them under control. They're better than Oriental bittersweet though.