Lamium
Lamium. Aargh! A ground cover foliage plant with the prettiest leaves. The yellow variety, Lamium galeobdolon, was already growing here when I arrived. So I've had nearly thirty years to experience its robust growing style.
Invasive Yellow Lamium Flowering
Obviously there are two ways of looking at Yellow Lamium, AKA Yellow archangel (really?).
- Yellow Lamium is an absolute menace, an aggressive pest. Do not encourage it. Do not compost it. Actually, do not ever plant it. Ever. For if you do, it will pester you for all your gardening life. If you inherit it, consider being really non-PC and chemically exterminating it. Oops.
- Yellow Lamium is a tough ground cover and weed suppressant, well adapted to dry semi-forested areas and tricky, shaded areas. It will self-seed, and new plants are formed when the stems touch the ground. How generous! Divisions are easily dug up and transplanted into other garden areas. So it is a really useful plant, yes?
But I do grow two other coloured varieties which are small, neat, and oh so well-behaved. One has smaller leaves and white flowers, the other is medium of leaf and has pinky-lilac flowers. Neither of these seems to be aggressive at all.
Purple Lamium
The white variety is so modest that I have never, ever taken a photograph of it. Will go outside right now and put that right!