Beautiful Thugs: Commelina diffusa & Talinum paniculatum
Commelina diffusa Often times in the garden we come under serge by a myriad of weeds from far flung fields looking for new lands to conquer. With these invaders we often have no mercy in hacking them back ,tossing them to rot. They are easy handled. The ones who are the most dangerous are those which we ourselves invited, under the guise of being sheep when the reality is they are horticultural wolves. Twice I have found myself guilty of falling for this trapped , lured by the beauty and interest only to find myself pulling up the successors of these successful invaders. The first plant is to me the prettiest, enter Talinum paniculatum. A small freshly leaved perennial, this species in the the months of summer till frost features tall panicles of pink minute flowers which are excellent for attracting pollinators notably hoverflies. However it is what follows, that poses the greatest issue. This plant self sows with the enthusiasm of a m...