  Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6654 Registered: 10-2003 |
All around my house, and throughout my neighborhood, I see these little purple flowers running rampant. They are bordering on pests. There are actually two kinds, one looks sort of like an asparagus on the top, only purple, and when you pull it the roots look like little onions or bulbs or something. The other kind just look like little purple petal flowers. I imagine they have to be some kind of weed, as they certainly grow and spread like them. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 1231 Registered: 08-2007 |
grape hyacinths | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 759 Registered: 04-2005 |
Would the second kind be violets? The other ones sound like chives in bloom. Are the stems hollow and smell like onions? | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6655 Registered: 10-2003 |
 Yes, these are definitely what I was describing as the asparagus thing. The other ones are small little purple flowers with maybe 3 or 4 petals. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6656 Registered: 10-2003 |
I guess they might be some kind of violet. They REALLY spread around. They are pretty, but they cannot be where they seem to want to be, which is in my front yard. | ||
Craig Member Username: Craig Post Number: 788 Registered: 02-2007 |
Agree: first sounds like chives & second is a violet. The violet has a broad green leaf, ranging from the size of a half dollar to a full (Ike) silver dollar. An old-timer recently told me wild garlic with purple flowers, but I've not seen these. I have another, though. Very small purple flower in the lawn which resembles a lilly (only the flower; the stem and body of the plant resemble an oxygenating water weed). | ||
Oldredfordette Member Username: Oldredfordette Post Number: 4595 Registered: 02-2004 |
excuse the redundancy. (Message edited by oldredfordette on May 14, 2008) | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 1232 Registered: 08-2007 |
http://www.fotosearch.com/phot os-images/grape-hyacinth.html don't believe me? | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 2063 Registered: 08-2007 |
The one in the picture is grape hyacinth. The other one could be violets if they are purplish and the flowers are almost an inch across. There is a also paler one with a smaller flower, bluet aka Quaker Ladies. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6660 Registered: 10-2003 |
I don't think chives, Gnome seemed to be right with the Grape Hyacinths. That picture is exactly what my first flower is. Half dollar to full dollar? That actually sounds too big for the second flower I'm trying to figure out. These are more like a nickel. | ||
Craig Member Username: Craig Post Number: 790 Registered: 02-2007 |
Asparagus? Novel description. Count yourself lucky if these (grape hyacinth) are growing wild near you. Very nice. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 2064 Registered: 08-2007 |
If you have chives, the long grasslike leaves smell like onions and you can chop them up for your salads or mashed potatoes. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6661 Registered: 10-2003 |
No, not Bluet. Those are too small and the petals too pointy. I guess maybe its some kind of violet. | ||
Craig Member Username: Craig Post Number: 791 Registered: 02-2007 |
Violet flower is the size of nickle, but the leaves are larger. Again, a very nice extra for the lawn. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6662 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Ha, well it's the best I could come up with. I'm lucky, huh? Well, they can hang out in the back yard, but I'd prefer they leave the front alone. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 2065 Registered: 08-2007 |
Violets probably on the second flower: | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 761 Registered: 04-2005 |
Violets range in size. The ones growing all over my lawn and garden are about nickel size, some are dark puple, some are varigated.  I wish I had wild Grape Hyacinth along with the violets. Pretty. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 2284 Registered: 07-2004 |
I get them in my lawn and garden, I think. They start out as small, groundcovery-looking things and burst in little purple blossoms this time of year. If you don't like them, they need to be pulled. But I like them enough to leave them in my beds in places. I use local wild plants in the garden if they're not too obnoxious, like wild onion (nice white blossoms on early spring). | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6663 Registered: 10-2003 |
Yeah I think that's it. Thanks, that was a quick identification.  If you guys like those two flowers so much, move to Ferndale. You can't get rid of them. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 762 Registered: 04-2005 |
There is also creeping charlie, but I didn't think it bloomed this early. It's kind of viny, and gets tiny purple blossoms. The other one it could be, but again kind of early is Myrtle. It's got glossy green leaves, and spreads. About 6 inches tall with little purple flowers, but like I said, it's early for that to bloom. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 763 Registered: 04-2005 |
Here's creeping charlie  | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6664 Registered: 10-2003 |
I had some ivy from hell last year. I made the mistake of thinking it looked nice wrapped up one of the trusses of my porch. Little did i know it would soon go crazy, start sprouting up from my flowerbeds and choking my plants. I'm hoping I got rid of all of it this year, but I doubt it. It had pretty flowers on it, but looks were deceiving! It's basically a living creature and I swear grows like a foot a day. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 764 Registered: 04-2005 |
On the ivy from hell, were the flowers orange? | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 1233 Registered: 08-2007 |
the small purple flowers, might be violas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V iolet_(plant) | ||
Sumas Member Username: Sumas Post Number: 129 Registered: 01-2008 |
Actually, their name is muscari, also called grape hyacinth. Your description of asparagus was very apt as they belong to Asparagaeae family, (asparagus) The other "weed" is either ground ivy or creeping charlie. To get rid of it. buy Ortho weed begone max. The premix for garden hose use. Apply, once a week for three weeks. It's the only thing I know that wipes the little buggers out. the muscari, i wouldn't worry about. like all other bulbs when it is done flowering its leaves will yellow, wither and die back in less then a few weeks. it does multiple and will rebloom next spring. personally, i like to see it naturalized in lawn and ground cover beds. However the master garden program defines a weed as anything you don't want in your lawn or garden. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6666 Registered: 10-2003 |
I believe they were several colors on the same plant, ranging from white to a dark pink. I don't think there were any orange. Some I think were white with dark pink streaks. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6667 Registered: 10-2003 |
The ivy flowers were trumpet shaped, and were a fair distance from each other on the ivy. You would get them here and there, maybe 6" apart or more. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 765 Registered: 04-2005 |
Are the flower bell shaped with the leaves kind of heart shaped? Could it be Morning Glory? They spread like mad, too. If they were orange, you would have yourself a Trumpet vine. Avoid these at all costs. They take over the world. They actually grew up under my aluminum siding and started to pull it off. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6668 Registered: 10-2003 |
Yes, that's it! Morning Glory.  | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6816 Registered: 08-2004 |
I have a flower bed of Tulips and Grape Hyacinths. When the Grape Hyacinth are done blooming, they seed, and the seed spreads to other areas. Then the following year I get them in the lawn or other flower beds. But they are not that evasive. You want evasive... get Snow-In-The-Mountain... you'll hate those!! | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 766 Registered: 04-2005 |
My neighbor with the trumpet vine that attacked my house also planted Morning Glory, which then climbed my fence, and wound themselves all around my rose bushes and everything else it could reach. I had an apple tree that looked like it had flowers growing out of it. I hate those damned vines. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 767 Registered: 04-2005 |
Get yourself some Roundup and spray it on the green part of the vine, just be really careful not to spray anything you want to keep. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 2285 Registered: 07-2004 |
No! Don't use Roundup!  | ||
Craig Member Username: Craig Post Number: 792 Registered: 02-2007 |
My mystery weed looks like the Creeping Charlie. Mine, at any rate, is blooming; never before noticed it with blooms. Please indulge this thread-jack: anyone have a secret weapon for dandelions that won't take out my lawn clover & violets? NFW can I dig them all out; I want the dandelions gone but want my wild flowers. Help, please, before I get good and pissed and just wipe out everything not grass. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 2068 Registered: 08-2007 |
I'm digging like mad. I think the darn things are gaining! And my Creeping Charlie is also blooming. I have a dog and lots of wildlife, so I don't want to use poison. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 774 Registered: 04-2005 |
If you lived in England, those Dandelions WOULD be wildflowers. Maybe you could just pretend?? | ||
Dogperson Member Username: Dogperson Post Number: 42 Registered: 02-2008 |
What you might have is Chick Week. Grows very good in the grass. Only way to get rid of is buying Chick Weed Killer - Ortho. | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 195 Registered: 08-2007 |
Creeping Charlie will choke out your lawn. It's a menace. I found it being sold at Lowe's as a ground cover a few years ago. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 778 Registered: 04-2005 |
Dannyv, you are correct about that. Most of our lawn is creeping chuck now, but at least it's green. If I tried to kill it, all I would have is dirt, sand and a few dandelions. | ||
Dianeinaustin Member Username: Dianeinaustin Post Number: 24 Registered: 02-2008 |
Lucky you to have violets blooming in your yard. My parents have brought violet plants to me several times and I have purchased them from Lowes's. (At Lowe's they are in a 4 inch pot and cost about $5.00) At any rate they do not survive here in Texas. I miss being able to make a nosegay of violets. And you are also lucky to have the grape hyacinths. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 779 Registered: 04-2005 |
Oh, but Diane, you have Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush, Blanket Flower, Cosmos and Yucca, all growing wild everywhere right now. I would love to be down there, out on the Willow City Loop, with the Live Oak and the pools of Bluebonnets. |
