I doubt our neighborhood hillside is in immediate jeopardy of an uprising or a landslide, situated as it is, on top of a massive fortress of Ordovician limestone. Our exiled, unkempt biome is stitched together by a tangled patchwork of wild plants—native and foreign. This is a ministry of weeds among vines, groundcovers, trees, shrubs and a few perennials.
The eagerness of the romp-a-long, exotic gooseneck (Lysimachia clethroides) or the persistence of the thorny, native catbrier (Smilax species) do not surprise me.
I feast on fresh delicious, neighborhood daylily buds (Hemerocallis fulva) whenever Rufus and I are sniffing and snarfling this time of year. Some people hate that the common ditch lily exists at all, taking up precious space where an indigenous species might be preferred. Good luck. There is no maintenance. The bottom of this hillside has never met a string trimmer. This is full-on survival of the fittest, not an award show for best pollinator.
Ditch lily (Hemerocallis fulva) with tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) in upper left corner.
Variegated sport of porcelain berry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata) surrounded by moonseed (Menispermum canadense)
Chameleon weed (Houtttuynia cordata)
Our morning walkaround is chock-a-block—on our block—full of maverick weeds.
Chameleon plant, English ivy, poison ivy, porcelain berry (with a few variegated leaves), hardy kiwi, Virginia creeper, bindweed, goutweed, moonseed, mulberry weed, pokeweed plus the unstoppable—ground elder and bush honeysuckle.
And God bless the tree of heaven.
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Love ditch lilies. Time to take a back road drive to see them in all their glory. I have a patch of them and the old style hydrangea. Both thugs. They complement each other beautifully. I let them duke it out.
The hydrangea is a prime example of why to be wary of an offer of a free plant from a fellow gardner.
Never ate the buds.
Tibs, try the ditch lily buds. Good cut up for salads or stir fried. You won’t be disappointed.
(As you may know , the buds or spent flowers can also be dried for use in soups and stews.).
Living in far northern California, H. fulva is a rarity : I miss the road verges of my childhood in Wisconsin,full of daylilies, chichory and Queen Anne’s lace– profligate and lovely.
Jean, we’ve got no shortage of Queen Anne’s and chicory here as well. I am a fan-boy.
In the spirit of being welcoming to immigrants, as many of us are these days, I guess we should accept these plants. But not in my yard…
Deborah, NIMBY! The hillside I pass is on the property of five different owners. They all mow until it becomes too steep, down near the road. I am sure, if they wanted they could weeed eat this portion, but no one seems to object and no one, to my knowledge, has called to object with the health department. Someone obviously planted gooseneck at some point. And there’s a native giant solomon’s seal holding its own. Was it planted or did it preexist the neighborhood? I don’t know. I knonw deer love solomon’s seal, but maybe they’ve been too bush eating the foliage on my Hydrangea arborescens. I grow one giant native pokeweed for its foliage and the thick stems the color of rhubarb pie. It’s nine feet tall now. (We’ve had a lot of rain this spring.) I’ll soon need to cut in back to three feet. It’s blooming now and I know that will soon mean trouble if I leave it alone. They set seed in no time. I have to repeat this chore two or three times before frost. It’s not much work.
I love boisterous plants and have intense admiration for plants that are able to thrive cheerfully with no help from humans or even Mother Nature at times. I can never hear somebody complain about a weed without hearing my dearly departed father in law opining, “better than dirt.”
“…at times” are the operative words. This spring’s unending rain in Kentucky has tipped the scale. We’re saturated and weeds are pulling ahead.
i have always wondered if the orange daylilies simply crowd out the “fancy” varieties or whether the fancy ones revert to their original form or whether like any over-bred species they are just weaker. Over the years I have planted a lot of “fancy” daylilies but have few left, but the orange are thriving. Comment Allen?
Sally, I’m not a daylily expert but modern cultivars have been bred with lines that are dormant (hardiest), semi-evergreen and evergreen. And, of course, there’s been a lot of commingling. Hemerocallis fulva is rambunctious,
Must be the season; far enough along here in the Midwest to support a good growth of weeds and natives alongside our favorite garden plants. I was just writing, myself, about the various sounds weeds make as I rip them from the earth.
Professor, I’ve never found young crabgrass so easy to pull than in this wet spring.
Un-native daylily…. I believe it was recorded as a garden escapee all up and down the mid-Atlantic in the 1690s. My own earliest recorded ancestors came over in 1780. So I, and others who can’t claim ancestors as old as the daylily, can hardly throw stones. Must try eating the buds– I’ve used the Chinese dried ones for years but never wanted to de-bud my own plants– they are work horses and I love ’em.
Jim, thanks for the interesting historic background. The ditch lily is a naturally occurring triploid (mule), and due to its sterility, wouldn’t escape, in most cases without a helping hand. I may snarfle a few off the hillside…
I have some of these. Growing somewhat more modestly!
I didn’t know they had a modest gear…
Love this. I have given up trying to battle my ditch lilies. I had only recently found out that the buds are edible (do they really taste like green beans?) as are the roots, which supposedly have a nutty flavor. Now I go outside and threaten to eat them to attempt to keep them in line! But seriously, I also recently learned they have been used for thousands of years in Traditional Chinese Medicine for insomnia, inflammation and anxiety among other uses. As they are just starting to come on here in Central Illinois, I am willing to give them a try!
Tove, thank you. I can’t compare the taste of ditch lily buds to anything, but I don’t think they taste like beans. Somewhat like a lettuce with a smoother texture. Give them a try and let me know what you think. Also, I didn’t know the ditch lily roots were edible. Interesting. I was just in a local Asian market and saw huge burdock roots the size of miniature (12″) baseball bats. My daughter swears by them as good anti-inflammatory medicinal. Maybe simpler digging up ditch lily roots that you wouldn’t have to dig as deeply as you would a burdock root.
Allen – I definitely will start eating the roots! I am digging them up all the time anyway! Another invasive you mention is English ivy, which I cultivate to make into tea. It releases ephedrine from the leaves which open up the lungs. The Europeans have been using it for a thousand years to treat coughs. I am wondering now how many invasives are in fact medicinal?
I found your post both informative and inspiring. Thank you for explaining everything in such a simple way. Keep up the great work!
Some people hate the existence of the common lily, which takes up valuable space when a native species might be more desirable.
That’s a fascinating description of your untamed hillside! I love the idea of it being a “ministry of weeds.” It sounds like nature is really taking charge there. I can definitely relate to the daylily debate – they’re so prolific! It’s a reminder that sometimes the most resilient plants aren’t necessarily the most “desirable.” Makes me think, though, if we could find a way to repurpose all those daylilies, maybe even turn them into fuel. Imagine a little Eggy Car powered by ditch lilies! Just a thought!
I am afraid I positively hate non-native weeds. The chameleon plant, while pretty, literally destroyed the other plants in my garden, then grew under the patio and attempted to take over the entire yard. I spent well over several thousand dollars getting this dug out for a new patio. I had to say goodbye to many of my strangled plants… hostas, rosemary, iris, etc.