Has anybody had any experiences with this plant? I known that it is fairly well established in the UK and where I´m based in Spain, it turns up frequently among potted plants and in flower beds. For those who aren´t familiar with it, it´s a bulbous plant from South America, vaguely related to the Alliums, with grassy foliage and umbels of small white, purple and green flowers with an exquisite scent. It has the reputation for spreading like wildfire and in some parts of the world is classed as a "noxious weed" and has attracted some very unflattering common names such as "False Onion Weed". Far fewer people seem to like it than loath it, so I reckon I must be one of its few admirers - in fact, I offer seeds on my business website with an appropriate warning attached! This plant raises questions about responsible gardening, although not in the usual way. Should we "blacklist" all plants that have considerable ornamental merit but are potentially invasive? After all, at the end of the day it´s up to responsible gardeners to ensure that their plants don´t escape and this applies to countless other species such as Crocosmia in Scotland, Hedychium in New Zealand, etc. What do you think?
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Blacklist
I think we need to justify why we are prejudiced against certain plants too - it´s not enough just to say "don´t grow anything potentially invasive." From the human point of view weeds are plants that are in the wrong place but they are just where Nature wants them, and from Nature´s point of view, garden plants are plants that are in the wrong place...! For more info. about Nothoscordum gracile I´ve included a link to an article I recently wrote about the species.Nothoscordum gracile
"Should we "blacklist" all plants that have considerable ornamental merit but are potentially invasive?" Yes, we should. We are paying huge costs in removing plants previously planted with such intention, often with tax payer money. The idea that a well managed garden will be so in perpetuity is too tenuous.
The urban environment offers a chance to grow certain aesthetically pleasing invasive plants without risk to the wider landscape. This is the only place such planting should be considered.
Sorry to be so blunt, you make some good points.
I largely agree with you, Pip. To be more specific in my arguements, I´m primarily thinking about "safe" environments in which to grow potentially invasive species, such as the urban and, by implication, contained environments that you mention.
I have a background in environmental land management and the spread of alien species is of paramount concern to me. However, I think we always need to be specific about what the issues are regarding specific plant species. For example, in Britain Rhododendron ponticum is quite rightly subject to extensive eradication programmes (but not nearly adequate enough to eradicate it), while Buddleia and many other non-native species seem to be tolerated. There is even doubt about Galanthus nivalis as a genuine British native but nobody is suggesting destroying every non-garden snowdrop in the country . These species and others such as Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed, seem to be way past the point of no return.
In Spain, we are surrounded with invasive New World Opuntias and Agaves, Tree Of Heaven and a multitude of other aliens. I´m not sure what the answer is, but the truth is that virtually every cultivated plant has the potential to become an unwelcome invader under the right conditions. A puritanical view might suggest that gardening as we know it should cease to prevent further disruption to ecosystems; alternatively, considering the extreme extent to which we have already manipulated the environment (monoculture grain/olive/corn/cotton etc. farming being good examples), we should maybe get our priorities right and not frown upon responsible gardeners who don´t allow their plants to escape into the environment. Irresponsible gardeners are, or course, another matter.