Winter is over, now it’s time for the native spring ephemeral wildflowers, those that grow, flower, and reproduce before the woodland trees leaf out. But, thanks to some of the worst of the most hated plants, some invasive plants prevent this from happening.
One of these is Ranunculus ficaria (Lesser Celandine, Fig Buttercup). Now, you may be thinking “Oooh, pretty buttercups.” But this plant has some nasty habits that are destroying native spring ephemeral wildflowers.
The leaves appear in late winter, forming a dense mat which prevents the growth of almost every other plant. In the photo below, you’d be surprised to know that this mat is blocking out even the English Ivy that forms a second mat below this plant. You can see that the only thing growing through the mat of Lesser Celandine is Star of Bethlehem (another invasive plant which we’ll talk about in a later post).
The photo above was taken in my next door neighbor’s backyard which is in an upland urban environment. This plant will grow almost anywhere, but it is particularly noxious in riparian woodland habitats.
In the next photo you’ll see that Lesser Celandine has completely covered the ground in this riparian natural area, preventing the growth of the native spring wildflowers.
The good news is that Ranunculas ficaria can be easily pulled from damp ground. However, notice the little tubers that form the root area of this plant. You MUST remove all of those tubers to control this plant.
This can be very laborious work in your garden, digging it up and sifting out the tubers. It’s a herculean task to stop the spread of this plant through larger natural areas.
Fig Buttercup was introduced to the US as an ornamental plant. Even though this plant is considered invasive in 17 states from Wisconsin to Rhode Island and south to Tennessee, it is still available for sale in those states.
Plant breeders have developed many colorful cultivars, which should be considered just as invasive as the species.
Some examples of native spring ephemerals include bloodroot, wild ginger, spring beauty, harbinger-of-spring, twinleaf, squirrel-corn, trout lily, trilliums, Virginia bluebells, and many, many others. These plants provide critical nectar and pollen for native pollinators, and fruits and seeds for other native insects and wildlife species. Because fig buttercup emerges well in advance of the native species, it has a developmental advantage which allows it to establish and overtake areas rapidly.
If you garden has a wet area, one alternative to Lesser Celandine is Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris), which has a similar appearance and bloom time.
Another alternative for upland areas is Wood Poopy (Stylophorum diphyllum), also known as Celandine Poppy, which is blooming in my garden at the same time as the Lesser Celandine in my neighbor’s garden.
What’s your most hated plant? What nasties are you attempting to remove from your garden?
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About Carole Sevilla Brown
Here in Toronto, it’s garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) that invasively carpets the forests each spring. I hate it.
.-= Rosemary´s last blog ..Mertensia virginica in bud! =-.
Rosemary, I hate Garlic Mustard, too! I’ll get to that soon. It’s everywhere (all the upland spots where there’s no Lesser Celandine) That and Japanese Stilt Grass are wiping out native plants and ferns all over this area.
I’m so sad to see that two plants I loved in the UK, which are native there, purple loosestrife and lesser celandine, are pests here in the USA. How surprising too that Caltha palustris is native both here and in Scotland.
The wood poppies came into flower in my Eastern Kansas woodland garden yesterday. This is the best year I’ve ever had for them in the 10 years since they were planted – they’ve self-seeded and sprung up all over the place. I’m thinking it’s because both the violets and columbines were eaten to nothing last year in my garden, leaving space for something else to appear.
Isn’t it wonderful how nature fills a niche with a different mix of natives each year (if we don’t mess it all up with invasive non-natives)!
.-= Alison Kerr´s last blog ..Kansas City Gardening for Africa =-.
I just wrote my weekly column about the weeds in my garden – the worst of which is couch grass. Not very easy to pull up. In our area purple loosestrife and japanese knotweed and bishop’s weed are among the biggest pests. Nearby there was an area full of mile a minute vine but the New England Wildflower Society sent out the State Botanist and a group of volunteers to pull it out and eradicate it.
.-= commonweeder´s last blog ..The Color of Spring =-.
The wood poppies are blooming here as well! Just planted them for the first time this year…we’ll see if it actually likes the conditions.
My most hated is and shall forever be Japanese honeysuckle, which I fight pretty much constantly here in North Carolina.
.-= UrsulaV´s last blog ..Stuff In My Yard – Celandine Poppy =-.
Thankfully, I haven’t discovered any Japanese Honeysuckle in my neighborhood, but it’s a big problem at my local wildlife refuge. It’s such a shame that John Heinz NWR is much more of a lesson in invasive plants than a lesson in natives. I’m thrilled that the refuge was saved from development by the Philadelphia Airport, but it’s so sad how overcome with invasives it is. I can totally sympathize with your plight in dealing with the honeysuckle. Good luck!
I JUST got an email from a friend about this plant, which I did not know much about but remembered that you’d done a blog post about not too long ago. I was able to find this post and thus inform her about it. Thanks so much. It’s funny, a couple of years ago I saw this blooming in one of our local parks and thought it was so pretty, I considered digging some up and planting in my garden. Lucky for me, my scruples kept me from doing so!
.-= Naomi Sachs´s last blog ..AHTA Conference Request for Proposals – Due 4/15! =-.
Naomi, you are so lucky you didn’t follow that impulse! You’d be spending all of your time now digging it out. It spreads FAST.
Every year I watch in horror as our neighbor’s yard becomes full of something utterly out of control. One year it was bamboo. We helped her with that, digging out roots. This year it was ailanthus shoots because she had a big ailanthus tree cut down. And her “lawn” is now a carpet of lesser celandine.
Also, the chain link fence between our yards is completely and totally overgrown with annoying vines: English ivy, Japanese honeysuckle, and more! We never manage to have any trumpet creeper blooms because we’re so busy eradicating vines they get lost in the fray.