Bakemom, for me it's chocolate mint, feverfew, lemon balm, obedient plant and valerian. Yes, valerian. I didn't cut it back one fall and the next year they were everywhere. I still pull sprouts from all of these plants every year.
I am amazed at where they can get to!
I'm a little better at reading labels, doing some research and asking questions now!
Oh, the stinging nettle was heading in all directions this spring - not a good thing!
Shirley!

ut-oh - chinese lanterns are invasive?

The only one I ever had of the ones you mentioned was the Gooseneck Loosestrife. Beautiful plant, but even the huge boulders in my gardens did not keep it at bay. It would always sneak out and I would pull it back every year.

Not sure if you are planning to put those pots in the gardens, but if you do, get ready to do battle with them even in such a state. They will find their way through the hole in the bottom and some will even go over the top if you let them.

Many 'friends' offered me mints, Chinese Lanterns, etc., but I always graciously rejected them since I knew what havoc they could wreak!! :O)

Lemon balm? Really? I wintersowed one container of it this year, maybe i should put that one in the plant cemetary before i regret having it.
Bakemom, i'd say potting them up is a good idea. It will let u enjoy having them without the worry of their sneaky agenda. Of course this goes without saying but snip any flowers before they go to seed! :)

Oh how I wish the chinese lanterns would turn invasive on me. I have a spot that I would love them to grow - a spot where they could sprawl until their hearts content. I can't even get them to come back a second year. I'm about to give up trying.

Lemon balm will take over your yard, groan!!

A few nights ago, hubby and I watched a cooking show where they used fresh mint in a recipe. Well, low and behold, today he stops at Agway and picks up a pot. Thank goodness I caught it before he planted it in one of my beds. I am still running across spearmint 8 years after (supposedly) getting rid of it!

I am going to plant it in nice big pot and use it all summer for coooking and drinks.

I've about given up on mints.
I had an egyptian mint 5-6 years ago, really ugly plant, strong, musty mint smell, ugly flower, and runners that were as thick as a pencil. It wasn't a problem to get rid of, the runners pulled right up from the ground. Thought I had it eradicated, and 3 years later it showed up in the same spot.
My chocolate mint, which I would like to keep, I have had to set, in its container, over on my neighbors porch. The runners were climbing into all my other pots!
Nan-6161, use a BIG pot!
Shirley!

Several years I grew mint in my herb garden because DH was supposedly going to make a sauce with it. Well it took a few years to get it out of that spot and wanting to keep some I planted a few cuttings under the apple tree near the back fence on the north side of the garden. That was the only place it behaved. Grew there nicely for a few years until I dug it to plant Hostas. Maybe they can't handle such a hostile environment. This year I harnesed Evening Primrose (I think). There were two little patches of it which had invaded two garden areas. In the early warm spell we had, I was able to pull every last one (the earth was soft) and I replanted about 5 plants in a little area with spring blooms and lilies. I will be able to keep a watch on them there. I am stil battling Ajuga reptans. Thought I had finished it last year, but this spring, I have already pulled a few. The battle continues...

I started the war on Lily of the Valley today. My new house has beds full of it, that have probably been in place for thirty or forty years. I am starting by digging up anything of value in the beds (Trillium, Jack in the Pulpit, coneflowers,iris) and replanting them in a holding area. I don't know if they will survive having their roots separated from the LOV, but my fingers are crossed. Next, I am hiring my teenage daughter and about three of her friends to spend whatever spare time they have digging the weeds out by hand. None of them can find summer jobs, with the economy as it is. So, they can spend the summer hanging out together at my house working for less than minimum wage, plus food and wireless Internet. They may not realize quite what they are signing up for, but it's a good lesson in hard work. Wish us luck!

Martha

Good luck with that, Martha. With any luck those teenagers won't eat you out of house and home. Teenagers can eat!

Karen

My most invasive plant is maple seedlings =P ...

I allow my mint to roam, my lemon balm barely has moved in 4 years.

I would agree with you with purple loostrife, I wouldnt grow it here, especially since I have some boggy areas around,, they would competely take over.

Update on my Lily of the Valley. I went in and dug out as many Trillium as I could find. Turns out that my shade bed must be a happy place for Trillium. Not only did I have the plants with blooms on them, but I found many seedlings in varying stages of development. It looks like they germinated from seeds from the originals. Hopefully the parent plants will be equally happy further down the bed where the LOV has already been cleared out. I was able to transplant 35 Trillium plants! They were all mixed into the LOV and I had to untangle the roots. By the time I got all the LOV out, the Trillium didn't have any soil left around their roots. But, I was able to replant them immediately and water them pretty quickly. oh, I hope they survive! They are so beautiful, and they are the official state wildflower of Michigan. Im hoping to collect seeds and try to wintersow them.
Anyway, good luck to everyone fighting the battle of the invasives.

Martha