Garlic Mustard Stand

Sometimes people are all "why do you care about garlic mustard so much?" Here's why. Solid walls of garlic mustard (aka bin Laden Plant), growing above everything else.  Almost everything below it will die from lack of sustenance. Beneficial, beautiful wildflowers that are an important part of the ecosystem. Change this piece of the puzzle and the shift might be profound -- tt's new enough that we don't know.  We do know that unless something happens - like an insect adapts to eat it - it is here to stay.  Infestations like this seem like a lost cause, but local control in your little city plot is completely within reason.  These photos were taken in Michigan.

Not a Weed: False Solomon's Seal

False Solomon's Seal, Smilacina racemosa, is a lovely shade wildflower. It is small, kind of dainty but quite lovely. Also in the photo above is one wild geranium, with a purple flower.  These spring wildflowers are some of the wild plants that are most at risk from invasive weeds.  This photo was taken in Michigan.

Wood Sorrel

The wood sorrel around Chicago is going into flower. At this point it is even more easily distinguished from the clover that it is often mistaken for -- clover has pom-pomy round flowers, WS has little yellow ones. Again, if it's growing someplace you trust, this is a tasty little plant -- light and lemony.

Creeping Charlie

The creeping charlie around Chicago is flowering. Shown above is a thick infestation, crushing a super-neglected lawn. Once it's in a lawn like this, every time you mow, the creeping charlie will pop up faster than the grass, weakening said grass and strengthening said creeping charlie.

Crabgrass

Crabgrass -- Digitaria sp is a fast growing, sprawling, clumping grass that grows all over everything. It is an annual, and tends to be out-competed by healthy lawns. Still, it tends to show up all over the place

ID help

  Is this bedstraw/Galium aparine? It looks pointier and ganglier I can't make italics stop wtf.

Garlic Mustard: Bin Laden Plant

Did you know that Garlic Mustard was Osama bin Laden's favorite plant? True fact. That's why I'm making a movement to rename (if only colloquially) this as Bin Lanen Plant.

These particular Bin Laden Plants are along the Metra (train) right of way.  These trainside strips of unkept landscape are full of invasive weeds.  Plenty of room for wildlife and useful plants, but lots and lots of invasive threatening to squeeze out the nice stuff. Like most Bin Laden Plant around, these are pretty much going to seed. Note the density of the BLP in the bottom shot -- completely crushing/terrorizing all other plants.

Dame's Rocket

Hesperis matronalis. Often mis-identified as the similar-in-description Wild Phlox, Dame's Rocket has (surprise?) a rocket-like nature, growing fast, spreading fast, bringing widespread destruction. Dame's Rocket has four-petaled flowers vs Phlox' five. Pulls easily but requires persistence.