My yard is a maze of hidden gardens. Not all of them tended to. With a renewed sense of garden joy, I decided to tackle one of the forgotten beds and bring it back to its former glory.
With ivy it is said, "The first year we sleep. The second year we creep. The third year we leap!" Judging by the ivy on the fence I'd say it's been a good three years since this particular spot was properly cared for.
Aside from the ivy, it's been taken over by some invasive weed. I don't know what it is. Therefore I am unprepared to battle it. Google hasn't helped any. I'm hoping one of the brilliant garden minds here can tell me what I'm up against. It seems to spread from a pure white rhizome that is set deep beneath the soils surface. Almost impossible to simply "pull out", the stem just breaks off. Almost reminds me of a clover epidemic. Any thoughts on what it may be? How to eradicate it? Any advice or help is appreciated.

Rattlesnake weed. I feed it to my rabbits. The funny little tubers are edible. Clean them good and add them to stews and soup.

Edited to add:
Several plants share the common name. It's this one:


See Green Deane's Eat the Weeds page for this plant:
http://www.eattheweeds.com/flo...

Oh, good! I'm glad Greene had an ID. I got stuck at ivy taking over the world and little white grubs.

I do want to caution you though (ivy taking over the world), ivy is a wonderful place for rattlesnakes to hide. (experience)

And little white grubs? I think that is one of the items that keeps showing up on my dinner plate during long airplane flights. I told DH they were coconut grubs and I was not eating them.

Interesting that it's rattlesnake weed amongst a safe harboring of rattlesnake ivy ... 😳 Thank you both. I better don some arm length gloves and snake boots when I tackle this space.
Now, I know how rattlesnake tastes (like chicken but more exotic). But the new question is, how does rattlesnake weed taste?
You can bet, I'll find out. 😉
Thanks again. 🙂

Yes, Florida Betony (Stachys floridana) and the "ivy" growing on the fence sure reminds me of Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)

plantladylin said:Yes, Florida Betony (Stachys floridana) and the "ivy" growing on the fence sure reminds me of Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)

That is Virginia Creeper growing along the top side of the fence. 🙂 A single vine. English Ivy lower left in the corner. 😉

When the rattle snake weed blooms, time to start harvesting.

The tubers are soft right now at my house. I don't care to eat those.
After the plant produces fresh tubers, they are quite tasty...

I eat them raw, and... Add them to ramen and other soups after removing from the flame.

They turn soft really fast if cooked... You want them crunchy.

An interesting plant. Someone (Stone?) may want to update the database to indicate the edible feature, and perhaps add a comment how to use it and what it tastes like.

I ate some (of the tubers/rhizomes,) it's delicious! I'm not good @ describing flavors but it was crunchy & pleasant tasting. My husband thought so too.

Sasha, it does seem like it's going to take over the world at the moment, but as soon as it gets hot, it will disappear, right after it blooms. Butterflies LOVE the blooms. I've managed to rid cultivated beds of it by pulling the greenery consistently until it gave up but let it go in some areas because the butterflies seem to enjoy the blooms so much. Finding the tubers/rhizomes is tricky, those white stringy stems/stolons just under the surface can go sideways for quite a distance & break so easily.

Does anyone have any stachys floridana tubers they'd be willing to share with me for postage?

If Sasha does not plan to excavate hers, I'll dig some up for you.

Thanks Tiffany I'd love to try tubers from both of you, if you both are willing to share some with me. One may be more productive then the other so it would be fun to compare. @DaisyRyder would you be willing to send me a few tubers for postage? I'll be happy to help get rid of a few for you.

OK, this is what I found before I got too sweaty. Please send me a PM if you want them. I may not be back on computer until tomorrow, so please don't feel ignored until then. What a "smart" plant, if it's trying to hide its' tubers. One can chase foliage for a surprising distance before finally finding where they originate.


I'm so glad I did this, and chose to dig where I did. I found a Begonia rhizome that I'd completely forgotten. Apparently it wasn't bothered by the awful winter. A cover of leaves may be responsible. I'm so happy and surprised!

Treemail sent thanks Tiffany.

Absolutely Daniel. You can have them all! Lol. Send me a PM and keep us posted on the comparison between the two. I wore myself out today playing in the dirt, so I'll have to dig for them tomorrow. Did try one today fresh out of the ground. Wasn't bad. It was kinda sweet, kinda nutty, kinda spicy.

And awesome Tiffany on finding a long lost begonia! Little surprises like that are always welcomed.

Thank you so much Sasha, Treemail sent.

@ediblelandscapingsc
Consider yourself warned about aggressiveness...

Far more aggressive than mint and monarda!

I had a heck of a time getting it stopped at my previous garden...

And... yet... Brought it out to the current garden because it's so difficult to grow anything edible here... thanks to the voles.

I have enough room to plant these in the ground, but I would suggest container growing to anyone that was dealing with a suburban type situation...

In Macon GA, these are in a lot of people's yards, and make growing anything else... challenging.

Also... may spread by seed...

The seed part is the only thing that worries me about these plants. They will be pot grown on woven ground cover so no tubers will penetrate my soil. If I can stay on top of removing flowers I think I can keep it contained. Thanks for the heads up stone.