A Cautionary Tale.

Oh my,Spritz,what a mammoth task!I bet you thought it felt never ending..As lovely as the Vinca's are,they really are thugs,aren't they? You are going to have a lovely display with all your new plants,and you have chosen one of my favourite colour schemes..:o) .

Eek!
survival of the bully by the look of it Spritz ?
such a lot of hard work for you getting that lot out, such a daunting task....
still its done now and lots of room for the beauties you've chosen

I think you deserve coffee and cake x

I've got a similar problem but not with vinca - My pain is a pink hardy Geranium and sorry to say I've lost the tag and can't remember it's name to warn you all!!! It's gone absolutely mad and I feel so cruel digging it up too!!!

Like you I consider myself an 'old' gardener and well aware of the dangers of invasive plants. However we all succumb at some point. Last year's effort was a tall yellow plant, could have been an Inula, or not, growing to 5-6ft. Would look good as a background I thought! The grower forgot to mention it spread like Vinca, needed staking with something akin to the frames put round small trees to deter deer and still escaped to flop all over the lawn! It has been moved to a forgotten spot at the back of the pond, but will still need staking - and it's still coming up in the original place. I also have the yellow Lamium, planted under some conifers as I thought it would be one of the few things to grow there - it has and spread everywhere else. I also have patches of the variegated Vinca!

Yes I agree very difficult once established to control I think the common name is Periwinkle even if you think you have dug it all out you only have to leave a small amount of root in and away it goes again.

I have a pink hardy geranium which is a thug, it is called Claridge Druce, and they pop up everywhere even in cracks in the paving, and they have sturdy roots that are difficult to pull out.

I can confirm that vinca 'Illuminator' is just as bad. It was suppressing weeds at the back of the border, but nearly suppressed everything else as well. Now thinned to one crown.

I bought Gertrude Jekyll last year to disguise the edge of my pond. It doesn't seem to be doing much of anything yet this year - should that be "I'm happy to say that it doesn't seem to have taken over yet"?

Its biding its time Urbanite....untl you're not looking ?

I have vinca minor which has just started to "take off" thanks for the warning.

My problem is also a small pink hardy Geranium that I fight each year. My Vinca is growing where I want it to at the moment but I will keep an eye on it.

I'd say a lot of us have a few cautionary tales to tell Spritz, its a lesson thats often learnt the hard way, I do have quite a few patches of vinca but luckily mine is in the dogrun area, anything in there has to be of the bounce back variety, thankfully I was never tempted to move any into the main garden, my biggest mistake is a daisylike plant that I was given many years ago and planted a piece along one side of the fishpond, it spread rapidly and some has entangled itself amongst the hydranga so no chance of removing it completely, I pull handsful of it out on a regular basis as its trying to spread amongst the gravelled bed, obviously I daren't use a weedkiller anywhere near the pond, it does however look quite attractive when in flower...
That bed is going to be lovely when all in bloom, I know its no consolation but I too have lost my nice looking winter nails and now have short gardeners ones, just cannot get on with the gloves, lol.....

Don't seem to have a problem with my Vinca - yet, but Geranium ' Love Lace' different story.

I went looking to see if there is a page in goypaedia for potential thug plants. I did not find one but I did find your struggle in 2010 to keep it under control. It is so easy to take your eye off the ball and Vinca just shoots away. I can hear how delighted you are to be able to design a new bed. It will help dispel the frustration at all the hard work you have done and all that still needs doing. You have our sympathy but we enjoy the challenges and solutions you show us.

Thank you all for your understanding - I do think that any potential 'invasive' plant should have a label that at least gives a warning to buyers. Then if people still like it, they'd have that crucial information and it's up to them! At the GC on Saturday there were rows and rows of pretty Vincas all in flower, and people were buying them! EEK!

Honeysuckle, I inherited that Lamium (galeobdolon) and also lots of pink Geraniums with no name - I haven't yet succeeded in getting rid of them! I wonder what your yellow plant is?

Yes, at least I have the compensation of a pretty bed to look out on, rather than that awful mess. I glued one of my nails back on, by the way, haha.

Scotsgran there was a long blog about thugs , I think it was last year - we all seemed to have at least one! Min e is the pink geranium too - have steered clear of vinca although its so pretty. Spritz, just reading about your barrowloads made me feel tired! and i thought I had had a busy day in the garden...

Now I have a bone to pick with you lady!!! You very generously gave me 3 of these vincas. mind you so far so good. I think you may have warned me about Gertrude ! They are not a nuisance yet :o)

Not only it can overtake your garden but it can overtake several acres of your forest. As some people show the blue bell forest floor, ours is covered with vinca. We have both vinca minor and major. I also have a problem with Lysimachia nummularia (creeping jenny) Several wheelbarrow loads every couple of years. I have to be careful how I dispose these plants as they want to grow where I pile them.

Well, Sbg, Yes, I did warn you, but you would have them...

Klahanie, it doesn't *really* surprise me how far it can spread!!!

Stera, was that blog one of mine? I do remember it...

yes I know but at least I know what to look out for. The Jekyll one is bouncing into the lower stems of the climbing hydrangea and looks pretty at the moment. :o)

Can't remember now Spritz - it was a really popular one though.

I will check. Sbg, did I send you a piece of the double mauve one as well?

Yes, Stera, I wrote one on 'Triffids in the Garden' in 2014.

I have jenny Pym and a deep purple double that I think may have come from you or I bought it at Reighton gc. I don't have a pale double. I have single V. minor in blue and the white and the white is a variegated leaf.
They have both slowly covered part of a bed where S parks the van and until I have the time to do anything else at lease it s keeping the weeds down.

Yes, that's the one.

People were interested in the Triffids, weren't they!

I need to start battling with Gertrude Jekyll (again!) as she is trying to take over in two places. :-( Then it will be Jenny next...

It's an invasive weed in my opinion that is as bad as Ivy! One of my pet hates.

Some of them definitely are. :-(