British Columbia: Cardmine Pratensis 'Flore Pleno'

Edible and easy growing lovely plant.

 

Well, there's Cardamine and then there's CARDAMINE! As a more recent post from Grooonx7 on April 24 attests, Cardamine hirsuta (Snapweed; Bittercress, etc.) has become one of the most reviled introduced weeds now invading gardens in the lower west coast of BC and beyond. I first met it in the 1970s in Burnaby, BC - an innocuous looking little thing that germinates in great numbers in fall or winter, flowers and then flings seeds far and wide as quickly as it can. It continues to germinate and seed through the rest of the year too. I have seen plants only half an inch tall with seed pods! The only way to reduce its numbers (I hesitate to use the word 'eliminate') is to prevent it from going to seed. To do this you either need to mulch heavily enough that the plants are smothered or you need to pull up every last one before they go to seed. I do know from sad experience that vigilant suppression or hand-pulling vastly reduces their numbers after 2 or 3 years but this isn't easy; they are sneaky and hide under the leaves of other plants. They also have a way of making themselves almost invisible so you have to look for them with squinty eyes in just the right light. I'm not becoming paranoid am I? If only all Cardamine species were as lovely as Caramine pratensis 'FlorePleno'.