Isn’t this a sweet little Spring plant?

Yeah. I thought so, too.

But I’ve learned to . . . BEWARE . . . of sweet little plants that just show up – unbidden – in my garden. I mean . . . I didn’t plant this. But it’s been popping up like crazy in my garden beds over the last few years. It shows up in the Spring, creates these lovely little pops of bright blue, and then . . . POOF! It just disappears. Until the next Spring . . . when it brings back more and more of its friends.

Even though it makes me smile when it blooms, I’ve known for awhile now that it’s a non-native invasive plant here in Michigan. (But it’s so cute . . . ) And I know it will eventually become a Garden Thug. (But that blue is so dreamy after a long winter . . . ) And I know it’s really bad for woodland areas — and for neighborhoods that border woodland areas. (But really cute. . . )

This year, though, when I noticed a lot more of it in my garden than ever before — even popping up in the middle of my hellebores — I knew it was time to take action! It had definitely reached Thug-Stage and I needed to get serious about getting rid of it — despite the cuteness and the pop-of-blueness.

And because every once in a while, I go all Master Gardener on you, I’m going to bring you all along to share what I’ve learned.

So this cute little blue plant is officially known as Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica). It is a Known Thug and has been designated an invasive throughout the Midwest and Northeastern regions of the US and up into Canada. It’s cute, sure, but it will spread aggressively and choke out plants you WANT in your garden. And it is a particular threat to woodlands.

Where did it come from? Well, it’s a native plant in Russia (thus the “Siberian” part of its name) and Turkey, and was sold here as a garden plant for many years. (Shoot, what’s not to love? It’s winter hardy, it’s low-maintenance, deer and rabbits avoid eating it, and it’s so dang cute!) Where did it come from in my garden (and probably yours)? Birds, most likely. Ants (seriously). Or maybe it ducked under the fence from your neighbor. Or it could have hitched a ride in some plant that a friend shared from her garden.

How to get rid of it? Well . . . that’s the tricky bit. It’s much easier to get rid of individual plants of Siberian Squill — before it starts to mat together in a thick garden carpet. The plant spreads in two ways. First, after it blooms, those cute little blue flowers create seed pods that spread above ground and are eaten/carried around by ants (and birds). Second, it forms bulbs under ground. And . . . you need to get rid of BOTH sources of spread — the seed pods AND the bulbs. Prepare to dig a bit. AND cut off the flowers while they’re blooming to keep those seed pods from forming.

Recently, I spent a long afternoon digging up the stuff, and then Tom took a turn last weekend digging up some more. I still have a few more spots to hit in the near future. We mostly had single plants and small clumps spread through our garden, but it was troublesome to deal with when it was intermingling with plants we DO want. My advice – get it whenever you see it, and don’t let it spread!

Bottom line here . . . Invasives are trouble. (And not all of them are cute.) Get rid of them at your earliest opportunity. Thugs . . . are thugs.

And if you’d like some healthy native plants that will provide beautiful pops of blue in your garden . . . I recommend Virginia Bluebells. They’re native throughout the Eastern half of the US and Canada, and naturalize beautifully in the garden — and always play nice. (They look great alongside hellebores, too. Just sayin.)

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And if you would like more information about Siberian squill – and how to get rid of it, check out this Instagram clip from a Chicago-area garden coach.