Alkanet - what's the problem

[TreasuredMim]

New to gardening and wanting to encourage a wild area at the top of my garden. Part of it is shady with tall trees and foxgloves, bluebells, forget me nots and what I believe is alkanet which seems lovely. I accept that it spreads but is alkanet a problem in this situation? Why do gardeners seem to hate it?

No, it’s not a problem.

Some gardeners hate it because it has quite a large leaf to flower ratio, the leaves can be irritant to some people, and because it’s a native, so wins out in any struggle with a delicate flower introduced from warmer climes.

And to some gardeners, the ideal is a plot full of plants which bear the visible mark of being tended - the semi wild look is “a jungle”.

It’s a problem here! It’s very pretty and the bees love it, but it grows like mad and quickly takes over everything, seemingly overnight. It seems impossible to eradicate as the root is very deep. If it were a bit less rampant I’d be happy to leave it in my shady beds, but as it is nothing else will grow with it as it spreads so fast.

Oh yes and the leaves and stems are spiky and bring me out in a faint rash.

(And I like the semi-wild look a lot! Definitely don’t have a manicured type garden)

I don't have a problem with it other than the fact it's trying to take over the world and the roots are a beggar to remove. THe irritant leaves are dealable with thanks to gloves.

agree the flowers are lovely - such an intense blue. But also agree that the tap root is v hard to get out, the leaves are prickly/irritating and it takes over if given half a chance. So if I had a big wild area, I’d happily leave some to alkinet but as I’m more limited on space and have lots of plants I really want to grow, I do try to take it out (or at least keep it down)

The flowers are beautiful but it will cover everything, including new plants unless you lift it.

Have read all your comments and you're probably right, but will give it the benefit of the doubt this year.

It's just a bit of a pita because if you do leave it then it will spread and continue to spread and unlike it's relative forget me not, which behaves similarly, it is almost impossible to remove once it gets it tap root down. So having it in your garden means an ongoing job of removing the seedlings which will pop up here there and everywhere unless you just want to end up with a garden full of nothing but alkanet. I remove countless numbers of plants from my small garden each year, and still always end up with at least 3 flowering alkanets when I thought I'd got them all.
It is pretty and the bees like it, but I have many many other flowers which behave better and they like equally much.

It spreads like wildfire, and the root is hard to remove. The leaves irritate the skin. The flowers are indeed pretty, but once it has flowered, it will spread more. If I had a small area I’d it, I wouldn’t mind it at all. But it is very, very invasive in my locality and it seems impossible to get rid of, however much I think I am on top of it. Left to its own devices, it would completely take over my garden.

For those who are loving the blue of the alkanet flowers but not the habits of the plants, can I recommend Anchusa azurea? Same intense blue flowers, actually, more intense, on a plant that grows to 3 ft high but doesn't spread. And the flowers are in large panicles - a much better flower to leaf ratio. Easy to grow from seed.

As others have said...it takes over the world! If it didn't irritate me so much I wouldn't mind. We have a really wild garden so I have left patches but have had to be really tough right it this year as it's invaded everywhere and is suffocating my other plants. It seems to spring up overnight and I had to resort to weedkiller when it sprung up all over my drive!