Re: garden thugs

**"* C* M* <j*@earthlink.net>**

My worst pest is Houttuynia cordata 'Chamaeleon',  I have tried  
everything possible to get rid of it, including painting the leaves  
with Round-Up.  The leaves die, but the new shoots come up stronger  
than ever, singing "Do that again! We loved it!"  Lysimachia ciliata  
'Atropurpurea' ('Firecracker') runs it a very close second.

Here in southern California, Verbena rigida sends out millions  
runners an inch or two under the surface of the soil, and will  
quickly fill any space available.  It's easy to pull if its not in  
the center of other plants or under rocks, but one never gets all of  
it.  Six months later there is just as much as one started with.

Another real thug is Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri) if planted in  
rich soil.  I placed it at the back of a bed that was mulched thickly  
with compost, and it sent out runners 10-15 feet long all through the  
compost.  Elsewhere, I dug a hole the size of a bushel basket, set  
the five-gallon can root ball in the center of it, and filled in the  
hole with clean builder's sand.  There, it sends out fewer runners,  
and they are easier to pull up through the sand.

John C. MacGregor
South Pasadena, CA
USDA Zone 9
Sunset Zones 21/23
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