This plant, whatever it is, spreads fast.
It’s not terribly ugly. I actually like its purplish foliage and bright blue flowers. But it’s taking over my violets’ turf. That’s not acceptable. And it spreads by runner, making it even more aggressive than the violet. Look at this piece I pulled out of the ground. It must be over two feet!
I know it’s somewhat ridiculous to selectively weed an entire lawn, but I think I can eventually rid the yard of this nemesis if I pull some out every day. My husband says it’s futile. He wants to poison the lawn, but that will kill my violets, too. And just because I refuse to poison the lawn does not mean that I don’t have any say in what grows there. I do!
So beware, plant! This means war!
I think it’s deadnettle (or maybe henbit). It’s edible. It’s good for the bees. It’s a pain in the ass. I pull them up (and compost them) in my garden, but they grow back quickly, because it’s hard to get all of the runners. Good luck!
When this plant first sprouted in my yard, I assumed it was ground ivy. It looked and smelled like the ground ivy that used to grow in my parents’ yard. My plant grows taller, perhaps, and the leaves are more purplish, but the shape of the leaves and flowers is the same. However, when I showed it to my mom, she said it was NOT ground ivy. Huh. So I looked at the other possible culprits (deadnettle, which was Mystery Flower #1, way back when I lived in the apartment across town), henbit, and speedwell. None of those plants seemed to be the one I had here. How annoying! But looking at it again now, I don’t see what it could be except ground ivy. But the bees do seem to like it. There was a honey bee all over it yesterday. He did not appreciate my attempts to pull the stuff out! I will post some closeups of the plants later and then you can tell me if it’s the same plant you’ve been fighting.
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