# Pretty but deadly **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 1, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121 "2024-08-01T21:56:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/1 "2024-08-01T21:56:13Z")
OK, deadly might be an exaggeration. There is a beautiful thistle that I took a photo of awhile ago: [![](https://i.imgur.com/DwgWeYB.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/DwgWeYB.jpeg) I stopped by today to harvest some seeds, so I could plant them in my back yard. I decided to look up what kind of thistle it was, and found out that it’s a “Musk Thistle” (no relation to Elmo, I suspect), and that they are considered an invasive species. _sigh_ So, I trashed the seeds. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/2 "2024-08-01T22:02:59Z")
We have a lot of this growing around the barn and back down near the pond. [![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Iq7oEPl3dm4/Xrwij4b-jcI/AAAAAAAAb70/dRJNpgVQFw8ndNed73ZDTeNTY-mL1ys_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Poison%2BHemlock%2B%2528Conium%2Bmaculatum%2529%2BGW206695%2Bcopy.jpg) ](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Iq7oEPl3dm4/Xrwij4b-jcI/AAAAAAAAb70/dRJNpgVQFw8ndNed73ZDTeNTY-mL1ys_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Poison%2BHemlock%2B%2528Conium%2Bmaculatum%2529%2BGW206695%2Bcopy.jpg) Yes, Conium maculatum (poison hemlock) is attractive in flower in spring. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/3 "2024-08-01T22:21:20Z")
Beware the Ides of _marsh_… ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/4 "2024-08-01T22:23:23Z")
You could grow artichokes instead! > **[What's even better than an artichoke? Its gorgeous flower](https://www.sunset.com/garden/whats-even-better-than-an-artichoke-its-gorgeous-flowers)** > > Inga Spence / Getty Images Negligence in the garden is not often rewarded. Usually, when you turn your back for a week or two, you can expect to be confronted with produce past its prime (picture zucchinis the size of baseball... ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/5 "2024-08-01T22:25:27Z")
Yeah, that’s cool. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/6 "2024-08-02T03:56:36Z")
I’ve done my part to eradicate Russian Olive trees (_Flaeagnus angustifolia_) although they are pretty. Pretty invasive. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/7 "2024-08-02T17:24:44Z")
I don’t care how pretty it is, no thistle is ever deliberately getting anywhere near any garden I work in. Maybe I can’t eradicate them, but I’m at least not going to make them any worse. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/8 "2024-08-02T17:34:45Z")
Well, I don’t want a “garden.” I want an unruly mass of untended wildflowers. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/9 "2024-08-02T17:50:33Z")
Unfortunately, “an unruly mass of untended wildflowers” generally gets overwhelmed by aggressive weeds (toxic or not) sooner or later. If I wasn’t diligent about removing seedlings, my garden would be 90% pokeweed. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/10 "2024-08-02T18:31:19Z")
Chaos garden! I lost a huge red oak a couple years ago and the next spring without all the shade my little patch of scrub grass went to seed in a big way. I weed it a little here and there. Right now the sunchokes, black eyed Susan’s, purple coneflowers, field daisys; bergamot are still blooming. Yarrow and cinquefoil are winding down. The milkweeds have plump pods, the asters and goldenrods are looking righteously weedy but in about two weeks will bloom. It’s thick in the patch. The insects are all abuzz a d have seen swallowtails both yellow and black. I’m sure I’m missing something in the patch. Oh yeah the stag horn sumac showed up and that’s a pita for its invasivness but easy to pull when small. Spotted knapweed has been spotted and a couple other waste place weeds along the edges get pulled. I’ve ceased apologizing about it and when someone compliments on the beauty of it I m happy but surprised. It’s an acquired taste imo. Not everyone appreciates the chaos. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/11 "2024-08-02T18:35:15Z")
That’s exactly what I want! I bought 1/4 pound of wildflower seeds, and I’m going to spread them around before we leave for the winter, and see what the yard looks like next spring! Where are you located, if you don’t mind me asking? ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/12 "2024-08-02T18:43:22Z")
Michigan Grand Rapids area. Rural township with no lawn ordinance. Otherwise I’d be embroiled in grass wars with code nforcement. 😝 ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/13 "2024-08-02T18:55:45Z")
Durango is fairly enlightened about such things. The park we are across from has a “wild” border. There are grasses, coneflowers, thistles, sunflowers, blanket flowers and many more growing in it. They do tend it a bit, but it’s very wild-looking and beautiful. I’ll take a photo later and post it. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/14 "2024-08-03T01:39:16Z")
I took a photo as I drove by to get dinner. Not as vibrant as it was a few weeks ago, but you get the idea: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/jOsH7OM.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/jOsH7OM) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/15 "2024-08-03T11:01:18Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > If I wasn’t diligent about removing seedlings, my garden would be 90% pokeweed. We have an area alongside a meadow where pokeweed has been allowed/encouraged to grow specifically for the birds. It’s a pain in the ass to maintain. Each spring we cut down the previous year’s growth and haul it to a burn pile. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/16 "2024-08-05T15:21:54Z")
Thistle! UGH! It has taken over my rock garden in the backyard. We weren’t fast enough to take it down before it went to seed so next year it will be worse. When everything has dried up this fall, I will have to go out and pull all of it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/17 "2024-08-05T15:49:18Z")
My mom’s yards are wildflower gardens, too. They’re not quite no maintenance (if you just let it go completely, it’d soon be nothing but invasives), but it’s a lot less maintenance than grass, and it really does look nice. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/18 "2024-08-07T18:03:58Z")
I was reading a news story today on an invasive plant called **Giant Hogweed**. It has been spreading in the northeastern part of the U.S. You can get some _terrible_ skin lesions if you come in contact with it. Nasty stuff. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/19 "2024-08-07T19:57:09Z")
I helped my gf with some weeding/landscaping on Saturday. She’s got some poison ivy lesions on both forearms. I have none, and she is angry about that. We both were wearing shorts and t-shirts. I had sunscreen on my arms, she did not. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-but-deadly/1005121/20 "2024-08-07T20:03:27Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I was reading a news story today on an invasive plant called **Giant Hogweed**. It has been spreading in the northeastern part of the U.S. You can get some _terrible_ skin lesions if you come in contact with it. Nasty stuff. Nothiing can stop them. Around every river and canal [their power is growing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSkgwCpuZwk).