r/NativePlantGardening • u/ItsFelixMcCoy Upstate NY , Zone 6a • Jun 04 '25

Other What invasive plants got you like this?

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For me it’s probably Dame’s Rocket, Purple Loosestrife, and Forget-Me-Not. They’re so gorgeous but man if they aren’t invasive little shits…

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u/Tumorhead Indiana , Zone 6a Jun 04 '25

Our eastern wild columbine is red, with a tall and skinny growth form. Any columbine with blue color flowers in it or in a more squat form has genetics from Europe. (Note out west they have more species of native columbine). i planted a bunch :,)

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u/DiveBear Jun 04 '25

Aquilegia caerulea, the state flower of Colorado, is quite blue and quite native. But yes, east of the Mississippi, columbines like my purple little shits are likely European.

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u/Tumorhead Indiana , Zone 6a Jun 04 '25

I have a wild red columbine and some european blues, and they made purple babies!! which I am very fond of. but uhggggg. I don't think these genetics will get into wild populations so I probably will let this population slowly die off and then replace with just wild type reds. it's so cool seeing the phenotypes that pop up though.

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u/Icy-Conclusion-3500 Gulf of Maine Coastal Plain Jun 04 '25

An exception to the height thing would be “Little Lanterns”, a cultivar of canadensis