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Re: Star-of-Bethlehem

> According to a local gardening expert, “Star-of-Bethlehem ... behaves like a
> shark in the garden: it displaces everything. The only way to grow
> Ornithogalum is to find a place where nothing will grow, then
> star-of-Bethlehem will”. He implies that it will kill anything around it.
> Does this include shrubs and trees as well as flowers, or am I safe planting
> it around an azalea or dogwood tree and controlling it with edging and the
> lawn mower? I’m in zone 7, MD.

I agree -- Ornitholgalum umbellatum, or Star of Bethlehem, is extremely
invasive.  At my parent's house near Chicago, entire sections of the lawn
are now made up of these plants.  They actually mow pretty well like grass,
but when they die back in mid-summer it looks pretty bad.  We also have
problems with them taking over the peony bed -- each year we pull out 
bucketfuls. 

Unfortunately, they don't seem to flower as much when they get older, so
thinning is required for decent blooms.

Chris
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