Chasmanthium and "Chocolate" Joe Pye. Chasmanthium is the worse of the two, but darn I love the form of the plant and it's especially useful for part-shade/shade areas so I tolerate the nuisance seeding.

Oh, and brunnera - those dang seedlings are everywhere, including in the lawn! Once you buy a run-of-the-mill plain ol' green brunnera or two, you will NEVER need to buy another!

Interesting mxk3.

As they say in another context, "location, location, location". I've been adding Joe-Pye 'Chocolate' here, because it's one of the few perennials in flower in the garden in October. Suspect there's no seeding because it blooms so late (viz. getting cold here).

The species brunnera is definitely a seeder here too. But haven't seen any of about a half dozen named brunnera cultivars seed, except 'Langtrees'.

Don't know the northern sea-oats. But do know they love the seeding of the subtropical one in Florida (sandy beach conservation). It's a protected species down there.

This post was edited by SunnyBorders on Sun, Nov 30, 14 at 20:20

LOL. I've tried probably three times ((from GW trades)) to grow that ferny Corydalis from seed. Once it was no germ, then twice it turned out to be the repulsive C. ophiocarpa. Interesting to hear how seedy it is....

My 'Jack Frost' produces a number of seedlings- most of which are silver to varying degrees.

Mine would likely be Knautia, Scabiosa ochroleuca, Columbine, and Campanula persicifolia. The camp has been very aggravating in recent years with its prolific reseeding- even managing to pop up in the middle of more desirable plants.
CMK

CMK, again interesting to see some differences in our experiences.

The one you mention that I found to be an unbelievable seeder here, is the species Knautia macedonica. I don't use it now, so fighting it is just a dim memory.

Don't know that Scabiosa, but S. columbaria, (usual one you see here) is too-short lived in our flower beds.

Really don't like the sound of the Campanula persicifolia in your location. Have used it here and not found it too bad to manage. Clumps of it can be very long-lived. Our nightmare bellflowers are spotted and Korean bellflowers; but that's due to their extremely invasive fragile roots.

Our only self-seeding columbines are alpine and Japanese fan; neither have been any problem.

An unexpected reseeder for me is Chelone obliqua Leniemienie. I have several other Chelone and I have never seen babies but tons with the Leniemienie variety.

I've actually been buying Northern Sea Oats. I've been trying to get it established 1.) On a steep cliff embankment at my parent's place to fight erosion. 2.) In a swampy area of my significant other's yard that occasionally gets too swampy to mow occasionally. Wondering if I should rethink this plan? So far I've had trouble getting it established, but that's because I've been trying to use it in some tough locations.

As a general rule, I don't plant aggressive seeders unless they are native to the region. That way if they escape I figure I'm doing my part for mother nature...

This post was edited by edlincoln on Mon, Dec 1, 14 at 20:50

Didn't know that cultivar, Rouge; only have used Chelone oblique (so far!), but found the species an exceptionally vigorous runner (wet location). Smaller C. lyonii (have 'Hot Lips') much easier to maintain.

Edlincoln, would be interesting to hear what other gardeners would advise.

Admire your focus on native plants. As they say, gardens die with their gardener (or very soon thereafter). Nice to focus on a bigger picture.

campsis radicans which only became seed hardy here a few years ago. galium-if i could snap my fingers and obliterate it world wide i certainly would. brunnera jack frost and hadspen cream. leucanthemum superbum which i massacre every couple of years. one year salvias sprouted everywhere and then never again-sometimes plants are hard to figure.

Read you'd experience zone changes, davids10.

None of the perennials you mention present a seeding (or running) problem here.

Have more Brunnera 'Jack Frost' than any other Brunnera. It's a great plant here. Wish it would reseed (at least a bit).

Was able to get rid of all of our established Gallium odoratum within one year.

Our more northern location must really help in controlling some more southern plants (viz. prevent/limit successful reseeding). Of course, our own native plants can flex their muscles within the garden if they're not monitored.

Find some Leucantheum x superbum cultivars very useful plants. They stay in clumps that are easy to chop up (divide) here.

I too have noted the idiosyncratic behaviour of individual plants. Think "micro environments" within a garden may sometimes be a factor. In his classes, David Tomlinson (Merlin's Hollow) emphasizes the identification and use of microenvironments within a garden. And as he repeated, one old gardening adage is: if you want a plant, buy three. Plant them in three different locations and the plant will tell you where you should have planted it. Frustrating isn't it!

Chives throw quite a number of seedlings if not deadheaded. Joe-Pye-Weed has fairly tenacious roots, which wouldn't be a problem, but it also seeded around quite vigorously in my garden, making it a plant that needed to be removed. Valerian, Valeriana officinalis, also seeded around much more than I wanted to weed, so I removed it, even though I really liked the scented flowers. My other annoying seeder was Lobelia siphilitica, Great Blue Lobelia, which was only in the garden two years, but more than 10 years later is still sprouting under shrubs, in the lawn, and in other corner that it might hide even though I do eventually find them and don't let them go to seed.

The only weedy runner that I planted and had to remove was gooseneck loosestrife, but there is plenty of buckthorn, Russian olive, oriental bittersweet, knotweed and barberry (none of which I planted) to keep me busy with unwanted plant removal.

Ruella . Out on my land I fight Canadian thistle, tumbleweed, KR bluestem, Mountain ashe juniper, bur clover, vetch.

("Have more Brunnera 'Jack Frost' than any other Brunnera. It's a great plant here. Wish it would reseed (at least a bit).")
It probably will, I had four good looking seedlings.
My seedy is self inflicted for sure. Rudbeckia triloba is so useful in an area around a Juglans cinerea, Butternut. Few plants thrive in this area so when something performs well I let it have its way. These are difficult to deadhead since they bloom prolifically and never look tatty. Thankfully the unwanted seedlings are easy to pull.
Lady's Mantle can be an issue also if I miss that fine line between being attractive and going to seed.

Lemon balm has proved to be the worst plant in my garden for re-seeding. I started with one small plant and now I have to go through a full eradication effort every year just to keep it from taking over. Plus has tenacious roots that are difficult to pull up.

nhbabs, interesting description of your experiences with great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica).

I tend to be focused on the long-term maintenance of mixed perennial beds I plant, so I take it to be very important to recognize and potentially avoid invasives.

On the other hand, I don't want to avoid using some vigorous spreaders (seeders or runners); namely, those which can be very attractive and (if monitored after planting) such a good buy.

One very informed hands-on gardener I met, said she'd quit using great blue lobelia because of the long-term problem of containing it. On the other hand, Great blue lobelia is one of the spreader I'd personally very definitely chose to keep.

Below great blue lobelia maintained in a restricted location.

August 31, 2009:

felisa i grow melissa aurea. its also a villainous self seeder but so beautiful for a month or so in the spring that i have to have it. i try to pull almost all the plants as soon as the gold starts to fade leaving just enough for seedlings for the following year. chelones and lobelias refuse to put up with nevadas climate. . . . . .sigh. sunny borders-nice to see that pic on a rainy day in reno.

Over some years, starting before I knew better..ha!

Phalaris--ribbon grass--a runner
Ivy--a runner
various mints-runners
Hesperis matronalis-Dame's Rocket-seeder---been pulling 5 or more years and hope to eradicate one of these days
Physostegia-Obedient plant--runner-but I'm trying 'Pink Manners'
Monarda-runner-trying them again!
Achillea-runner and seeder(?)-trying again! Although I dearly love the bloom on *The Pearl* and let it travel where it wants
Campanula persicifolia (both blue and white)--seeder that I've grown to love
Buddleia davidii--seeder--extensive traveling root system(in my garden)
Verbena bonariensis-seeder-trying again!
Alchemilla-seeder--growing in my lawn--my fault...
I had the Lobelia but it must've died out in too much shade--loved it till it disappeared!

There may be others that I've forgotten.

Thanks davids10.

Like you I try to take quick action against the dead flowers of the bad seeders. The flowers without the seed formation works just fine.

It's been overcast, cold and windy here and it way beyond the time for gardening.

Hearing about others and their gardening issues makes this the most cheerful place to be.

I have the white datura that comes up every year. The plant gets really big and stem kind of woody, Oh morning glories........come up everywhere, but they are so beautiful when they bloom. I have some kind of yellow daisy that comes up everwhere too, even grows in cracks in my sidewalk, and its also just beautiful. Can't complain about too many wild seeds for these plants

Sounds very pretty, steelskies;
and relaxing!

I am very happy that Brunnera (the "plain" green-leafed form with abundant blue flowers) has gradually seeded itself around my front borders. It's a top 5 perennial for me.

I could live with a lot less Joe-pye weed (started with one small plant over a decade ago) and would happily give up all my Filipendula queen-dictator-of-the-meadow, as it is incredibly weedy in its spread and not very attractive to boot.

Other than that, I have lots of fun with poison ivy, multiflora rose and Artemisia "Oriental Limelight" (which tunnels under the driveway and will probably pop up through my kitchen floor one day).

Do agree, eric_oh, that the plain species Brunnera (B. macrophylla) is itself a very attractive plant.

worst are the maple trees. seedlings everywhere:(
chocolate mint, kind of crept around for a while. I think I have it under control with some diligence though. No where near as bad as regular old mint though.

I LOVE maple trees, but in just the last few years, the seedlings are coming up eveywhere, I feel horrible pulling them out, but don't really have a lot of other area to plant them. We've been on our farm for 30 years, and I haven't seen many maple seedlings come up other than for the last few years. On the other hand, I have a very unique cut leaf silver maple, and WISH those seedlings would come up but none ever do. Puzzling!

Re the maple seedlings: me too!

We have a relatively small urban property with two silver maples planted very close by (one is the township's and the other our neighbour's).

Even though I try to scrape maple keys off of our front flowerbed which is exposed to those trees, I invariably have to pull numbers of maple seedlings out of it on a yearly basis. But combating the rootlets of those maple trees, with their desiccating effect, requires much more strenuous effort.

My neighbour also had a buckthorn tree (apparently, a weed tree here - I've seen them on the edge of woodlands). Birds obviously provide a dispersal mechanism for buckthorns. I counted out how many buckthorn seedlings I was pulling out of our of back garden several years ago. They were concentrated in front of the cedar hedge, evidently a choice location for birds to stop in and go to the bathroom. I got bored and ended counting after 300 seedlings.

Glad at least that you don't have that problem.

Still I did finally get the better of that buckthorn. The neighbour agreed to let me pay to remove his tree several years ago. We don't see anywhere near as many buckthorn seedlings now.

I sometimes feel like introducing those silver maples (via their roots on our property) to saltpetre, but do not out of deference for the law. It doesn't really help to be assured by arborists that silver maples would never be selected for urban landscaping nowadays.

Oh well. The little Dutch boy had a hole in the dyke. I suppose I should be thankful I only have those two silver maples.

This post was edited by SunnyBorders on Thu, Jan 1, 15 at 21:15

don't want to seem ungrateful, but the bonus a certain seed co. sent is centranthus ruber-guess they'll join the 3 million that will sprout next spring-sigh

Well, add me to the maple seedling nightmare club. I think I had tried to block it from my memory.
Notice we are all from zone 5 (so far at least)
There is something going on. This is my first year having a major problem with them.
I am surrounded by forest and have never had more than a few at most. This year I pulled hundreds, high hundreds, could easily have been a thousand.
Most other gardeners I spoke to in my area were experiencing the same phenomenon.

Interesting Peren.all.

A bit more information ("Excessive Maple Helicopters") below, but afraid doesn't include solutions.

forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/trees/msg061711237684.html?3
Jun 2, 2014 - 4 posts - âÂÂ4 authors

Ranunculus 'Brazen Hussy' is appearing all over the place.. I should have known... I don't dislike it, and reluctant to pull it up, but I'm keeping a watchful eye...

Brunnera 'Jack Frost' grows well here but yet to self seed. I wish it would... Mollusc's seem to take most of it during the summer...

This post was edited by Marlorena on Sat, Jan 3, 15 at 11:18

After 30 years of gardening, my list is long. never to be allowed in my garden again:

Trumpet vine
Datura
Artemisia especially vulgaris, the herb mugwort. Took me 10 years to get rid of this and I still watch for it.
Gooseneck loosestrife
plume poppy,
northern sea oats
any mint
lemon balm
wild honeysuckle
ivy
Virginia creeper
meadowsweet (Thug of the Prairie)

And the #1 garden pest, Bermuda grass. If one seed of this blows into your garden, you will never be rid of it!

Good list. I especially like the reference to "meadowsweet (Thug of the Prairie)".

As per Eric, love that name Frances.

"Thug" isn't a name you usually see in garden centres and the selling sections of nurseries.

In fact, they really don't like to give you any warning about any plant.

This post was edited by SunnyBorders on Sat, Jan 3, 15 at 12:01

SunnyBorders -- Thank you for that link. The OP did not list their zone but the person with thousands of maple keys was zone 5. Yes, very interesting indeed.
Everything is cyclical but I have been gardening on this same property for over 25 years and this was a first.
I would much rather deal with the wild strawberries that were our dominant weed for a couple of years. lol!

Oh, forgot that x!X!X! garlic mustard. Grows everywhere in my gardens, lawns, etc. I've spent hours spraying and pulling it.

Echoing lemon balm... I love it so much that I keep it around but as soon as I see flower buds I cut it down to 3". Such a robust plant that by the end of the season here it is back to the size it started!

'Aurea' sounds nice, david.

Wow, your great blue lobelia is gorgeous, SB!

Thanks, Greenhearted.

I find that they take up a lot of space for full effect.

I am starting this plant from seed for 2015, even with the risk that eventually I'll wind up with a yard full of it.

Then again, the ordinary form hasn't spread around that much, so if the birds can limit their eating and pooping habits I should be OK.

Interesting, Eric.
Had never heard of the plant.

Apparently the boiled young shoots of the species have been a feature of traditional Southern cuisine. Just adding; all other parts of the plant are toxic and some medical authorities have warned against even using the boiled young shoots.

As to the birds:
Above: I've had a long running battle with a buckthorn tree, the seeds of which are also dispersed by birds.

Suggestion: don't give the birds anything to stop and poop from (like our cedar hedge).

Oh, also: don't eat it.

Eric, that cultivar of Phytolacca americana is quite striking. I wonder if it would seed true? Pokeweed is one of the weediest plants on my lot, and one of the few wild natives that competes effectively with the exotic invasives. The same suspects that NHbabs deals with - buckthorn, oriental bittersweet, Rosa multiflora, etc.

One other "worst weedy" is the species Eupatorium rugosum which I started from seed. If you think the chocolate version is weedy, you should see the regular green version. Rampant grower and seeder in shade or drought, and none of the critters eat it. At least it's native and the flowers are pretty, and the bumblebees love them.

Re: buckthorn problem

I have a ton of these everywhere on my 80 acre farm. By my house, there are a ton of seedlings coming up, plus some "shrub" size ones that are actually growing right into or beside my hedge. How do I get rid of the buckthron shrubs without hurting my hedge shrub. If I just cut them off they will resprout with even more vigor. If I dig them up I will hurt the roots of my shrubs. Some places there are more buckthorn than my wanted shrubs.

Very sorry to hear, steelskies.

I didn't realize how trivial my own little problem was.

Regarding Buckthorn:Can you ring them and paint some poison on the bases? Call up your agri agent and see what the controls are. I only deal with Mountain ash cedar.I have been out chain sawing and clipping for a week now. I bring in the new year every year doing this.

Basal bark application of herbicide would probably be easiest. You won't have to cut out the stalks from amongst your hedgerows. IYou need to use the oil-based version of triclopyr and paint all around the stems, then it will be absorbed through the bark. This can be applied during the winter.

If you do cut them out, you need to apply a small amount of herbicide to the cut stumps, so that they won't resprout (that is what I usually do).

Here's a recent thread on the tree forum with some info:

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter herbicide for buckthorn

This post was edited by terrene on Tue, Jan 13, 15 at 0:32