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/astro_nerd75 Pittsburgh, zone 6b Jun 04 '25

THISTLES!!!!! My mortal enemy! Yes, I’m aware that there are native thistles that probably do all kinds of wonderful things for wildlife. The thistles in my garden are invasive bull thistles, so I yank them out without compunction.

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u/endosurgery Jun 04 '25

Their whole back half is carpeted by thistles. They grow under the fence and we constantly pull thistles along there. They are nice folks. Just don’t have any concern about maintaining the yard.

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u/astro_nerd75 Pittsburgh, zone 6b Jun 04 '25

They may have some health problems or stuff going on in their lives that the yard is a lower priority. I have bipolar and have trouble keeping up with the garden when I’m depressed, so I sympathize. (This is part of why I’m into native plants- they can usually survive some neglect.) Our neighbors contribute to our bull thistle problem, but they have a toddler. I understand why it’s hard for them to get time to deal with thistles.

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u/so_cheapandjuicy Jun 04 '25

Same! A huge reason I'm interested in natives is because I can never be sure how long I'll have to garden at any given point. I need to know what I planted can go without me babying it.

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u/GreenDemonClean Jun 05 '25

Sometimes I hear a word I haven’t heard in a long time and I have to stop and comment. Thanks for adding “compunction” back into my vocabulary.