Realizing I didn't know what this was, I looked it up through Google.
Curious how the different sites had differing views. Some spoke of it as a
useful ground cover perennial; others mentioned its invasive nature; one
site even said it could cause contact dermatitis similar to that produced by
poison ivy -- have you noticed this?
Pat
Margaret wrote:
> Gosh, I wonder if this treatment would smother Bishop's Weed (Aegopodium
podagraria?)
No, I haven't. It's useful for keeping mud from splashing on the house.
Period. The variegated Aegopodium is somewhat attractive, if it's planted
in a container with other plants and never allowed to set seed. Other than
that, I'd be in favor of exporting it to North Korea, Iraq, Iran or any
other irritating location. All of it. Margaret L
> Realizing I didn't know what this was, I looked it up through Google.
> Curious how the different sites had differing views. Some spoke of it as a
> useful ground cover perennial;
only the variegated form
> others mentioned its invasive nature; one
> site even said it could cause contact dermatitis similar to that produced by
> poison ivy -- have you noticed this?
My husband is allergic to it
kathryn
Have you mentioned this in a memo to Dubya, with cc's to Rumsfeld and
Powell?
Perhaps you could take matters into your own hands and send a threatening
post to Iraq, North Korea, etc., warning them of the actions that private
citizens might take. I'll assist, with missives of my own regarding
Japanese honeysuckle. Think of it -- the Nobel Peace Prize for averting war
(although perhaps not gardening mayhem....), or at least the cover of Time
magazine....
Unless it's edible, in which case the starving citizens might welcome it.
Pat
> Other than that, I'd be in favor of exporting it to North Korea, Iraq, Iran
or any other irritating location. All of it. Margaret L
Patricia Ruggiero wrote:
I remember it in Britain, where nobody had a good word for it as it is
almost impossible to eradicate, it used to grow along the edge of the
little lane at Reading between my Hall of Residence and the University
campus. It was permanently afflicted with a rust fungus which in summer
when sporing had the extremely unusual property of producing a strong
sweet scent which the plant alone was incapable of. I certainly don't
know of another fungus that smells sweet - the only scent most of the
"smelly" ones produce is something like dead meat or excreta to attract
flies. Whenever you passed the patch in summer this really delicious
odour would waft out.
Thank goodness though, this seems to have been one weed British
settlers here did manage to leave behind!
I think any suggestion of using it as a ground cover is probably a cry
of despair on the lines if "if you can't beat 'em join 'em". I remember
once also seeing Allium triquetrum (Three-cornered onion weed)
recommended as an ornamental for wild areas of the garden but with a
warning that it might be difficult to control!!!
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
We inherited bishop's weed, or goutweed as it's more often called here
(Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Zone 6) -- the green version not the variegated
one -- and spent days, weeks, years trying to get rid of it.
Finally, one autumn, we took everything except a mature Japanese maple out
of the area and dug out as much of the goutweed as we could. We then added a
couple of inches of triple mix (to replace what was lost in the
digging/removing) and covered the area with a thick layer of wet newspapers
and then a good five to six inches of wood/bark chip mulch. We left it over
the winter and, in spring, cautiously planted through the mulch and paper
(we were on a garden tour that year so had to put something in!).
It worked, and we have had only one or two little sprigs appear since, which
my eagle-eyed husband has immediately routed out. So there is hope for the
goutweed-afflicted!
I always tell people that if they succumb to the variegated goutweed's
charms, to confine it in concrete or use it only in a container.
BTW, I was worried about covering the root zone of the Japanese maple so
thickly but it has thrived and obviously welcomed the cool/moist root run.
Karen
Karen York is a botanical editor and author of The Holistic Garden: Creating
Spaces for Health and Healing (Prentice Hall, 2001; Penguin/Putnam, 2002).
I am so darned lazy - just now I looked up Bishop's Weed to find out what the trouble was, and found it it was our very very worst weed, one I NEVER would try to smother. My daughter tries to pick the leaves and stalks and hopes to kill it that way, but it doesn't work. Only digging. If one cannot dig, one can hire teenage boys to dig for one!
Rabbits rather like it though.
Carol
Pat pondered:
> Realizing I didn't know what this was, I looked it up through Google.
> Curious how the different sites had differing views. Some spoke of it as
a
> useful ground cover perennial; others mentioned its invasive nature; one
> site even said it could cause contact dermatitis similar to that produced
by
> poison ivy -- have you noticed this?
I've not found anything about dermatitis but did find one site that
mentioned using Aegopodium podagraria in some homeopathic preparation.
Bishop's weed, Goutweed, Ground Elder, Snow on the Mountain are all "common"
names for this and everywhere that it grows it is very invasive, nurseries
call this "aggressive". I've also found sites that list as Bishop's weed,
"Ammi majus", Queen Annes Lace and one from India that lists "Trachy Spermum
Ammi" as Bishop's weed and mentions that the seeds are used for culinary
purposes.
Kimm
I call Ammi majus Bishop's flower.
susan
Tony and Moira Ryan wrote:
kimm wrote:
Kimm
Common names sure can cause confusion. I myself had never heard
Aegopodium called Bishops weed which for me has always meant Ammi majus.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
