Discuss Detroit » Archives - January 2008 » What are those little purple flowers invading my lawn? « Previous Next »
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Johnlodge
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Post Number: 6654
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:00 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

All around my house, and throughout my neighborhood, I see these little purple flowers running rampant. They are bordering on pests. There are actually two kinds, one looks sort of like an asparagus on the top, only purple, and when you pull it the roots look like little onions or bulbs or something. The other kind just look like little purple petal flowers. I imagine they have to be some kind of weed, as they certainly grow and spread like them.
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Gnome
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Username: Gnome

Post Number: 1231
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

grape hyacinths
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Jcole
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Post Number: 759
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Would the second kind be violets?
The other ones sound like chives in bloom. Are the stems hollow and smell like onions?
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Johnlodge
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)





Yes, these are definitely what I was describing as the asparagus thing. The other ones are small little purple flowers with maybe 3 or 4 petals.
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Johnlodge
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I guess they might be some kind of violet. They REALLY spread around. They are pretty, but they cannot be where they seem to want to be, which is in my front yard.
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Craig
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Post Number: 788
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Agree: first sounds like chives & second is a violet. The violet has a broad green leaf, ranging from the size of a half dollar to a full (Ike) silver dollar. An old-timer recently told me wild garlic with purple flowers, but I've not seen these.

I have another, though. Very small purple flower in the lawn which resembles a lilly (only the flower; the stem and body of the plant resemble an oxygenating water weed).
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Oldredfordette
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Username: Oldredfordette

Post Number: 4595
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

excuse the redundancy.

(Message edited by oldredfordette on May 14, 2008)
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Gnome
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Username: Gnome

Post Number: 1232
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

http://www.fotosearch.com/phot os-images/grape-hyacinth.html

don't believe me?
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Gazhekwe
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Username: Gazhekwe

Post Number: 2063
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The one in the picture is grape hyacinth. The other one could be violets if they are purplish and the flowers are almost an inch across.

There is a also paler one with a smaller flower, bluet aka Quaker Ladies.
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Johnlodge
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Post Number: 6660
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't think chives, Gnome seemed to be right with the Grape Hyacinths. That picture is exactly what my first flower is.

Half dollar to full dollar? That actually sounds too big for the second flower I'm trying to figure out. These are more like a nickel.
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Craig
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Post Number: 790
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Asparagus? Novel description.

Count yourself lucky if these (grape hyacinth) are growing wild near you. Very nice.
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Gazhekwe
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Post Number: 2064
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:17 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If you have chives, the long grasslike leaves smell like onions and you can chop them up for your salads or mashed potatoes.
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Johnlodge
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Post Number: 6661
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No, not Bluet. Those are too small and the petals too pointy. I guess maybe its some kind of violet.
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Craig
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Post Number: 791
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Violet flower is the size of nickle, but the leaves are larger. Again, a very nice extra for the lawn.
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Johnlodge
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Post Number: 6662
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Asparagus? Novel description.

Count yourself lucky if these (grape hyacinth) are growing wild near you. Very nice.



Ha, well it's the best I could come up with. I'm lucky, huh? Well, they can hang out in the back yard, but I'd prefer they leave the front alone.
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Gazhekwe
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Post Number: 2065
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Violets probably on the second flower:

violets.jpg
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Jcole
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Username: Jcole

Post Number: 761
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Violets range in size. The ones growing all over my lawn and garden are about nickel size, some are dark puple, some are varigated.




I wish I had wild Grape Hyacinth along with the violets. Pretty.
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Detroitnerd
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Post Number: 2284
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I get them in my lawn and garden, I think. They start out as small, groundcovery-looking things and burst in little purple blossoms this time of year. If you don't like them, they need to be pulled. But I like them enough to leave them in my beds in places. I use local wild plants in the garden if they're not too obnoxious, like wild onion (nice white blossoms on early spring).
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Johnlodge
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Post Number: 6663
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yeah I think that's it. Thanks, that was a quick identification. :-)

If you guys like those two flowers so much, move to Ferndale. You can't get rid of them.
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Jcole
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Post Number: 762
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:23 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There is also creeping charlie, but I didn't think it bloomed this early. It's kind of viny, and gets tiny purple blossoms.
The other one it could be, but again kind of early is Myrtle. It's got glossy green leaves, and spreads. About 6 inches tall with little purple flowers, but like I said, it's early for that to bloom.
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Jcole
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Post Number: 763
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Here's creeping charlie


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Johnlodge
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Post Number: 6664
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I had some ivy from hell last year. I made the mistake of thinking it looked nice wrapped up one of the trusses of my porch. Little did i know it would soon go crazy, start sprouting up from my flowerbeds and choking my plants. I'm hoping I got rid of all of it this year, but I doubt it. It had pretty flowers on it, but looks were deceiving! It's basically a living creature and I swear grows like a foot a day.
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Jcole
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Post Number: 764
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

On the ivy from hell, were the flowers orange?
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Gnome
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Username: Gnome

Post Number: 1233
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

the small purple flowers, might be violas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V iolet_(plant)
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Sumas
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Username: Sumas

Post Number: 129
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Actually, their name is muscari, also called grape hyacinth. Your description of asparagus was very apt as they belong to Asparagaeae family, (asparagus)

The other "weed" is either ground ivy or creeping charlie.

To get rid of it. buy Ortho weed begone max. The premix for garden hose use. Apply, once a week for three weeks. It's the only thing I know that wipes the little buggers out.

the muscari, i wouldn't worry about. like all other bulbs when it is done flowering its leaves will yellow, wither and die back in less then a few weeks. it does multiple and will rebloom next spring. personally, i like to see it naturalized in lawn and ground cover beds.

However the master garden program defines a weed as anything you don't want in your lawn or garden.
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Johnlodge
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Post Number: 6666
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I believe they were several colors on the same plant, ranging from white to a dark pink. I don't think there were any orange. Some I think were white with dark pink streaks.
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Johnlodge
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Post Number: 6667
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The ivy flowers were trumpet shaped, and were a fair distance from each other on the ivy. You would get them here and there, maybe 6" apart or more.
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Jcole
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Post Number: 765
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Are the flower bell shaped with the leaves kind of heart shaped? Could it be Morning Glory? They spread like mad, too.
If they were orange, you would have yourself a Trumpet vine. Avoid these at all costs. They take over the world. They actually grew up under my aluminum siding and started to pull it off.
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Johnlodge
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Post Number: 6668
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yes, that's it! Morning Glory.



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Gistok
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Post Number: 6816
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I have a flower bed of Tulips and Grape Hyacinths. When the Grape Hyacinth are done blooming, they seed, and the seed spreads to other areas. Then the following year I get them in the lawn or other flower beds. But they are not that evasive.

You want evasive... get Snow-In-The-Mountain... you'll hate those!!
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Jcole
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Post Number: 766
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My neighbor with the trumpet vine that attacked my house also planted Morning Glory, which then climbed my fence, and wound themselves all around my rose bushes and everything else it could reach. I had an apple tree that looked like it had flowers growing out of it. I hate those damned vines.
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Jcole
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Post Number: 767
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Get yourself some Roundup and spray it on the green part of the vine, just be really careful not to spray anything you want to keep.
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Detroitnerd
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Username: Detroitnerd

Post Number: 2285
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 3:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No! Don't use Roundup! :-(
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Craig
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Username: Craig

Post Number: 792
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 5:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My mystery weed looks like the Creeping Charlie. Mine, at any rate, is blooming; never before noticed it with blooms.

Please indulge this thread-jack: anyone have a secret weapon for dandelions that won't take out my lawn clover & violets? NFW can I dig them all out; I want the dandelions gone but want my wild flowers. Help, please, before I get good and pissed and just wipe out everything not grass.
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Gazhekwe
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Username: Gazhekwe

Post Number: 2068
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 5:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm digging like mad. I think the darn things are gaining! And my Creeping Charlie is also blooming. I have a dog and lots of wildlife, so I don't want to use poison.
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Jcole
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Post Number: 774
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 5:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If you lived in England, those Dandelions WOULD be wildflowers. Maybe you could just pretend??
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Dogperson
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Post Number: 42
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 5:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

What you might have is Chick Week. Grows very good in the grass. Only way to get rid of is buying Chick Weed Killer - Ortho.
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Dannyv
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Post Number: 195
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 8:05 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Creeping Charlie will choke out your lawn. It's a menace. I found it being sold at Lowe's as a ground cover a few years ago.
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Jcole
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Username: Jcole

Post Number: 778
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 8:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Dannyv, you are correct about that. Most of our lawn is creeping chuck now, but at least it's green. If I tried to kill it, all I would have is dirt, sand and a few dandelions.
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Dianeinaustin
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Post Number: 24
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 8:23 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Lucky you to have violets blooming in your yard. My parents have brought violet plants to me several times and I have purchased them from Lowes's. (At Lowe's they are in a 4 inch pot and cost about $5.00) At any rate they do not survive here in Texas. I miss being able to make a nosegay of violets. And you are also lucky to have the grape hyacinths.
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Jcole
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Username: Jcole

Post Number: 779
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Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 8:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Oh, but Diane, you have Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush, Blanket Flower, Cosmos and Yucca, all growing wild everywhere right now. I would love to be down there, out on the Willow City Loop, with the Live Oak and the pools of Bluebonnets.

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