Flame thrower? Wow, @BunsenBurner , you don’t mess around! =))
@BunsenBurner I have seen those torches with the extended arm for weeds! I should just try a simple propane torch and deal with squatting down to weed level.
@Consolation I laughed at BB’s “flame thrower” too. Way to get in the spirit of the thread, right? Woo!
They sell my awful plant at the nursery. I wont buy anything that even sat next to them. They were declared invasive in Florida.
Our neighbor’s gardener was using a flamethrower for all the vegetation between sidewalk and road. We watched in fascination. He replanted the area in grass and it now looks lovely.
I was looking for a good ground cover earlier this year and found one that sounded promising: variegated bishop’s weed. When I mentioned it to a nurseryman, he said that it has just been declared an invasive plant in Maine and that he hasn’t sold it for years and that anyone who did was totally irresponsible. Yikes!
There are plenty of sites that recommend it.
Purple loosestrife is my favorite invasive species. It looks so pretty in drifts along the highway. But yeah, I know one can’t plant it.
What’s you awful plant, @TQfromtheU ?
Mexican petunia, the tall ruellia. Not the cute, easy mound forming dwarf katie ruellia.
At the nursery and in the giver’s yard, they were about 2-3 feet tall. My friend’s yard has smallish suburban yard with paved walkways. I have four foot borders, a patio and deck and grass. In my yard, they have grown up to 8 feet tall, send out long runners, and shoot black seeds that look like unground pepper or capers. My friend gave me just two plants that are marching around my yard. I have spend probably $1,000 over the last 10 years and hours of physical labor trying to get it our of my year.
Don’t let those purple flowers fool you!
I’d double-check with your reliable nurseryman or Dept of Ag or your local ag Dept at your U about what you may be thinking of planting so you don’t regret it and later curse the plant.
@Consolation You wanted to plant Bishop’s weed! They are very hard to get rid of. One corner of my house used to be covered with them. I’ve been digging them out by hand. It takes a whole day to do about 10-20 square feet. After 10 years at it, the end is in sight.
Luckily, I talked to a local plant expert first! I was also thinking about planting liriope, but found out that although they claim it is hardy in our zone it is in fact very iffy, and they stopped carrying it because so many people came back and complained that it died over the winter.
Liriope is very hardy in my area, zone 6. I am surprised that it doesn’t survive winter. In zone 6, they stay green all winter. If you really like them, you can plant one and see for yourself. I don’t believe everything a nursery says. A nursery man once told me they don’t carry mountain laurels because of deer. Deer that come to my yard are never interested in mountain laurels. They eat rose flowers instead.
We keep trying to plant liriope in our shaded bed next to the driveway but something (moles?) just tunnels from plant to plant and it’s all dead. I guess trying a second time earns me the “stupid gardener”
Wow, only about a third of my post actually posted.
Add the word “award” and I guess I’m done.
I thought Roundup is really bad for the environment… and banned in Europe? Or am I wrong about this?
Some invasives were stupidly sold here, some hitched a ride on a freighter. Deer and other wildlife usually don’t eat them so they go crazy.
There are other ornamentals, still commonly for sale, that drive me nuts since they can be very difficult to control or eradicate. Indigo, bleeding heart vine, so-called confederate jasmine, etc., are all a PITA and I hate seeing them for sale without a warning label.
I have friends who will say, “it’s so pretty” and I’ll say- but when it climbs over your fence and starts strangling your neighbor’s trees are you going to prune it back? Every month or so? People never do…
If you think it’s pretty, keep it completely contained or just look at pictures.
@katliamom - check the reliable sources. No ban.
Europeans are wing nuts to ban it. It is the least problematic herbicide out there.
Awful stuff for our environment.
https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/food/how-much-toxic-roundup-are-you-eating/slide/5
I use roundup sparingly. The only time I used it was on Less Celadine. All other weeds I pull out by hand. Roundup can also kill shallow rooted plants if they are nearby where you apply it.
California is working on banning roundup - claiming it is a carcinogen -http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/28/health/california-glyphosate-cancer-chemical-listing/index.html
Organic life blog that sells its own products? Sure that is a very unbiased source. 
Everything is a carcinogen in California, haven’t you seen the labels on everyday stuff you buy?
Farmers are unhappy about buying seeds that require payment of license fees to Monsanto. The easy way to get at Monsanto is to ban roundup. In my experience, many “grassroots” movement that target a successful product have the competitors behind it. If roundup is banned, guess what the farmers will be using? Some really nasty stuff sold by the completion.
Bottom line: as far as garden herbicides go, I would not worry about getting cancer from roundup. Back to our discussion of noxious weeds.
Maybe I’m more sensitive to this subject. I don’t think we should be taking these environmental toxins lightly. They cause cancer whether you choose to think so or not. Maybe a fancy garden becomes more important. I was diagnosed with stage 4 rectal cancer at age 48. No family history and no especially bad habits. Perhaps you’ve seen the news that younger people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer and dying from it more than ever before. These are fit, healthy (usually white) young people and the researchers have no idea why. Most folks speculate that it’s happening due to environment factors. My Dad was diagnosed with Mesothelioma and died a miserable death from it because he worked with asbestos as a young man. The government knew that it was a carcinogen, but in the fifties the public did not.
So, yes I do worry about folks getting cancer from Roundup and you should too.
I could link many sources. Would you like me to?