Download April 2026 HortusScope
I’ve been gardening on this suburban half-acre for thirty years! Spring inventory says my landscape has a satisfying lived-in look with bountiful daffodils, bluebells, and bloodroot blooming and leaves of choice perennials starting to show.
But along with treasured plants have come unwanted or misunderstood interlopers—garden thugs! A lesser celandine here, a singleton scilla there, a scouring rush from a plant swap, star of Bethlehem bulbs from Lowe’s, a start of Japanese butterbur from a friend, a variegated chameleon plant hyped in a catalog, and endless thistles.
Some hitched rides on purchased plants. Some were brought in by pooping birds or emerged from the huge seed bank of this erstwhile dairy farm. Many were introduced because I didn’t know any better.
The thugs are now everywhere! Where there was one, there are many. Scouring rush and butterbur have consumed my bioswale. Lesser celandine is showing up in spots all over my yard. Scilla and star of Bethlehem have totally overrun their spaces. The thistles are still endless. Oh, and the trumpet creeper cultivar is tearing down the fence!
I hope you never have these problems. Let my bleak tale warn you to pick wisely, inspect carefully, root out the baddies while they’re still onesies, and beware of “gifts” from gardening friends!
