Think Twice Before Planting This Beautiful But Invasive Flower In Your Garden

Whether planting perennials in your garden for a low-maintenance approach or simply adding color for decorative purposes, there are numerous flowering plants that will enhance your outdoor living space. However, despite its pretty purple flowers, Symphytum officinale is not one of them. In fact, it can present a real danger to your garden. Generally referred to as either common comfrey or true comfrey, this is not only an aggressive plant that can displace other species, it's officially listed as an invasive species. Similar to another stunning but invasive plant, creeping bellflower, comfrey can take over your garden.

Once it's established in an area, comfrey can be almost impossible to get rid of, much like this gorgeous bush you'll regret planting in your yard. The primary reason for this is comfrey not only establishes a deep tap root system, but it is able to regenerate and spread from even a tiny root fragment. Therefore, if the root is not 100% removed, comfrey will grow back. The only real way to completely eradicate it takes time and involves digging deep with tools such as the Root Assassin Garden Spade to get as much of the root structure out as possible. Then, you have to be vigilant to repeat this process each time a new shoot appears.

While some varieties of comfrey have been developed not to produce a seed that allows spreading through that method, even those plants will propagate if their root system is disturbed by digging or tilling. Because of this, unless you are okay with a garden full of comfrey, you may want to consider other plants to add to your garden. Luckily, there are several native, non-invasive species in both the U.S. and Canada that can be used as alternatives to comfrey.

In the United States, fringed bleeding heart, Pacific bleeding heart, Virginia bluebells, mountain bluebells, prairie bluebells, and tall bluebells all have the drooping bell-shaped flowers similar to comfrey. The color of flowers produced by these plants range from blue to purple. Purple poppy mallow and evening primrose are two other purple flowering plants that play well with others, although their flower is shaped differently. Canadians also have several native non-invasive species to choose from, including anise-scented sage, Berggarten sage, common harebell, lamb's ear, and lungwort.