Spring Blooms or Invaders?
While admiring the early spring bloomers, we spot cheerful yellow flowers atop lush green leaves—refreshing signs of life! But soon, we realize it's everywhere. Uh oh... another invader? Two similar-looking spring bloomers often cause confusion: native marsh marigold and the invasive lesser celandine...
Space Invaders: Lesser celandine, the cheerful intruder
While running through the early spring woods, preparing for our run in the Tyler Arboretum trail run 10k, we notice large patches of verdant, low-growing leaves. How nice to see some life in the woods with that fresh green topped with cheery buttercup yellow flowers. But then we start noticing, huh, it’s everywhere. Oh no, not again. Not another space invader! In our woods, soil wet with spring rains are two easily confused early spring heralds - marsh marigold and lesser celandine.
Lesser Celandine
Lesser celandine, or Ficaria verna, is a nonnative spring ephemeral first recorded in Pennsylvania in 1867. Low-growing, dark green, heart-shaped leaves strewn with yellow buttercup flowers bloom in March and April throughout the East Coast. Native to Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa, lesser celandine was brought to North America as an ornamental plant that soon escaped cultivation. It is found in moist to average environments, along stream beds, river banks, low-lying woodlands, and wetland areas. When everything is dreary and gray, you can understand why someone might have tenderly wrapped up the seeds or small bulbils and transported lesser celandine to North America in days gone past. One of the first blooms in the woods, it’s a jolly reminder that spring is coming. Unfortunately, lesser celandine is too good at what it does.
What’s the Problem
There isn’t much competition usually at this time of year; not many plants rush as quickly as spring ephemerals, which are triggered by the lengthening daylight to flower, set seed, and fade into summer dormancy before the dense canopy of overhead trees shade the forest floor and drink the soil moisture. In our eastern woodlands, we are blessed with many common spring ephemerals like trout liles, bloodroot, trilliums, Dutchman’s breeches, Virginia bluebells, Celandine poppy, marsh marigold, and others. All of these plants enjoy the early spring sunlight and consistent soil moisture, tolerating cool temperatures to take advantage of the open ground floor to flower, attract pollinators, and reproduce before late-arriving perennials even begin to consider unfurling their first leaves. As our native pollinators wake up from winter hibernation, they seek out the woodland ephemerals, gathering forage and sustaining themselves after their long winter sleep. Specialist insects like trout lily miner bee or Virginia spring beauty miner bee depend wholly on specific endemic plant species while other spring ephemerals are pollinated by the first arrivals of migrating wildlife such as Virginia bluebells enjoyed by the first arrivals of ruby-throated hummingbirds. Over the millennia, our native insects and plant life are intertwined in a complex web of interconnectedness, whose arrival and presence support one another at just the right time.
The problem with Ficaria verna, or lesser celandine, is its lack of connection with the greater ecosystem. Its presence cannot be contained to a mere garden bed in spring but spreads rapidly to cover the ground and smother the competition of endemic and less vigorous spring ephemerals. It clogs up our wetland areas, stream beds, pond edges, parks, and grasslands. While the seed is variable in its viability, lesser celandine reproduces rapidly by aerial bulbils and tuberous roots. In spring rain washouts, the bulbils can be carried far from the parent and colonize a new area. If the plant stayed put, most would find the plant joyful and harmless, content to be an early spring groundcover whose foliage fades away just as summer perennials hit their stride. But alas, like all others in our space invader series, these plants aren’t good neighbors; they take over everything.
How to get rid of lesser celandine
Time is of the essence when getting rid of a colony of lesser celandine. The plant begins to set its aerial bulbils in late April to May, and the foliage usually fades away by June. Small infestations can be manually removed by digging out the plants, taking care to remove all the tuberous roots and small bulbils, putting the material in a trash bag, and throwing it away. Manual removal should be attempted before the aerial bulbils have set or risk the potential spread of invasive plant material.
In the woods, there generally isn’t enough time before the plant naturally enters dormancy for smothering and covering with plastic or cardboard to work. While it can be a good strategy for other invasive plants, it is not found to be successful with lesser celandine.
For large colonies, apply a systemic herbicide, such as glyphosate, in early spring before the appearance of aerial bulbils. It is recommended to add a nonionic surfactant to the tank to ensure the chemical adheres to the plant’s glossy foliage. Take caution to avoid applying systemic herbicide to non-target plant material. Our native marsh marigold is similar in appearance, inhabits a similar ecosystem, and blooms at the same time as the invasive lesser celandine.
Another Option
For those looking for cheerful color in the early spring garden, there are better options. Layer these beauties with summer and fall perennials to have a diverse and dynamic seasonal display. Our native woodland ephemerals are wonderful choices without the suffocating spread.
Caltha palustris - marsh marigold
Native to temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, Caltha palustris is an ancient woodland plant that looks similar to lesser celandine with none of the rowdy behavior and all of the native pollinator support. While lesser celandine is adaptable to a wide range of soil conditions, our native marsh marigold needs consistently moist soils to thrive. Found along the edges of ponds, streams, creeks, and low-lying woodland areas, the marsh marigold is a 5-9 petaled spot of gold in the early spring doldrums. The foliage is shiny, rounded, and bright green. Unlike invasive lesser celandine, marsh marigold doesn’t make tubers or bulbils or spread into a mat. Marsh marigold grows into a hefty clump, growing 8-12” tall and wide, perfect to accent a pond edge or water feature for spring delight. After the plant is done blooming, marsh marigold will quietly fade from the landscape as other warm-season wetland plants rise in the summer light.
Stylophorum diphyllum - Celandine poppy
For a bright spot of yellow in the drier areas that lesser celandine can sometimes colonize, let’s plant our native woodland poppy, Stylophorum diphyllum. It has cheerful, four-petaled, golden-yellow flowers atop 12-24” tall, blue-green pinnate lobed foliage. Running wild through our woodlands, Stylophorum diphyllum self-sows when happily situated, creating a carpet of spring joy. It blooms at a similar time to wild columbine and Virginia bluebells, putting on a show. When cut, Celandine poppy sap runs golden turmeric in color, staining unsuspecting hands and clothes. Don’t worry, the stains aren’t permanent. After pollination by our native long-tongued bees and other pollinators, seed pods develop. On quiet days, you can hear them popping in the woods as they dry. To encourage their spread, we take the hairy pods and shake them wherever we would like to see more, knowing that in a few years' time, we’ll increase our bounty.
Ordering Spring Ephemerals
Spring ephemerals are a beautiful addition to layer to the landscape, but due to their fleeting nature, ephemerals have limited availability. North Creek Nurseries carries Stylophorum diphyllum, Caltha palustris, and Mertensia virginica on a seasonal basis. To help navigate the limited availability, our customer service team is happy to help you plan your schedule and place an order. Please give us a call at 877.ECO.PLUG or write us at info@northcreeknurseries.com.
