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.

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.

Garlic Mustard, Selenite

I stopped at a rest stop on my way to Michigan, and thought I'd go look at the weeds along the fence. Unsurprisingly there was a lot of garlic mustard.  I pulled out my camera to take a picture, which is this one:

"Oh, what's that behind the garlic mustard?" you might be saying.  Well it's a freaking selenite crystal weighing in at about two pounds, clearly it was carefully cut.

Selenite is one of the crystal forms that gypsum takes. Gypsum is the main ingredient of plaster, which is one of my most-used art supplies.  I take this as a sign.

Garlic Mustard (update)

Well the garlic mustard is going to seed. See the little upward-pointing peapod-like things by the flowers? Soon (likely already as I took these pictures two days ago) they are spewing forth their vile little baby garlic mustards.  The planted bed on the bottom has just a couple garlic mustard plants this year, but I 100% promise that next year there will be a kachillion of them crushing all the flowers.  This plant SUCKS.

Garlic Mustard

Garlic Mustard. Alliaria petiolata. Shown in early April but can flower throughout the season.  Eurasian invasive that I put on top of my list of awful weeds.  Early to rise (I've seen it emerging in snow), fast growing, highly reproductive. 
Must be pulled up roots and all, so best to pull with some moisture in the ground, but don't wait too long -- it can flower and go to seed in the same day.  DO NOT COMPOST -- I've seen a 1-inch piece of stem go to flower and seed. For real.

Each plant can make thousands of seeds that persevere in the soil for years. It is a biennial -- first year plants tend to be short and grow in masses. Look for it in your alleys, behind trash cans etc.  Do not let this plant get a foothold!