Was pleasantly surprised to find several of theses volunteers in my garden after planting some new perennials this early summer. They are almost vine like and have a lovely 4-petal white flower. Am hoping I have a ground cover that will tolerate their shady location. Thank you for the I.D.
Yikes!!! I'm so sorry to hear that this plant is a vicious spreader. I'd better get after it right away. Thanks for the heads up.
Not-so-Lovely Volunteer What a nightmare. I spent the whole day digging out roots in two of three areas where this plant is growing. In only two months the roots have spread over 2 feet. As others have commented, the white root breaks easily so you have to excavate the soil and carefully sift through. Also concur that the smell is dreadful. I had to package a lot of the soil for disposal because I couldn't be sure to get all the roots. What's worse is that the roots had entwined themselves into the root systems of other plants, so, for example, I had to remove my biggest, nicest hosta, take all the soil away from its roots and slash at the roots to try to extract the Houttuynia cordata. I now have buckets of contaminated soil, two big holes in the garden and no assurance that I got it all. Tomorrow I get to do the same. What a nasty plant.
Re: Not-so-Lovely Houttuynia Yes, I'm just writing to pat you on the back and tell you how smart you are that you acted right away, but of course you know that. And aren't you glad that you were curious to know the ID and posted your query? I had a very pretty variegated variety (with red on the leaves) just in one wood planter, and had it coming out of all the edges of the planter. I had to remove everything to get rid of it, and then pry it off the planter. And it stank too, just as you said. Shops should have to pay a huge environment tax for selling that stuff. Asarum canadense, commonly known as Wild Ginger, grows nicely in shade and is about the same height. There are several other wild ginger species that are nice too.
I would have tried just cutting the stems off every time shoots appeared, starving it out that way. In this region the natural choice would be the native Asarum caudatum. However, the European species produces more handsome leaves.
Re: Not-so-Lovely Houttuynia Wendy, Thanks for the pat on the back. Yes I am very glad indeed that I sought an ID on this plant. I'll be sure to speak up if I see it for sale anywhere. Once I've finished this nasty job, I can return my efforts to removing the ivy ... <sigh>. And, as a matter of fact, I just bought some Wild Ginger. I have the Asarum caudatum, as RonB suggested, which is the Pacific variety. Now that is something I can't wait to see spreading through my garden.
If you like the look of this little flowering plant you would probably like Cornus Canadensis. It isn't invasive (and it doesn't smell), but it does have a very similar leaf and little white flower! It prefers to grow in a shaded, forest like environment. http://northernshade.ca/2009/08/23/cornus-canadensis-a-woodland-groundcover/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_canadensis
Yes, I have admired the Cornus canadensis - Bunchberry in the wild. If I can find it for sale in the Victoria area, I'll certainly get some. Thanks.
