Aloha,

I have the same experience. I have one valerian and have only had two seedlings in the six years I have had the plant. I gave one away and I have another now. If you'd like it, you are welcome to it. If you remember, I live very close to you, just across Baker Res.

Wow, Ahola2009, I have the opposite problem than you do. I had too many volunteer Valerians and finally had to get rid of them. I am now still finding new volunteers sometimes in my garden. Russian Sage is another one that I have problem with. I wanted to comment so I get notified when someone responds. I'd like to learn how to get them to stop seeding for me.

Thank!

Gardenchloe

I'm wondering what exactly the difference is that there seems to be such a disparity.

Gardenchloe, what is the sun and soil like in the valerian area.

Popmama, thanks for beinh willing to give me one of you seedlings, but unless you are going to throw it away I'll wait to and see what I can do with what I've already got. I need soooooo many!

It bewilders me how some plants are invasive for some and for others it behaves and then vice versa. Is it soil more times more than anything?

I found in one of my garden books that Valerian can be propagated from basal cuttings. I did not even know what a basal cuttings so I got on youtube. After dissecting the one healthy valerian in my yard, I didn't want to stress the new seedlings anymore than what I had already done.....at least they are alive.

I did find at least 2 valerian to experiment with. One (I'm fairly certain is valerian) I pulled out of some iceplant. The root was reasonably long for a 3" plant (yes I'm desperate) so I decided to pot it an see what happens. There is another valerian wedged between a pillar and flagstone. Unable to take a basal cutting w/o pulling out the flagstone, I decided to see what would happen from just a stem cutting. I labeled the containers so I can see how they progress.

A gardener has to do what you have to do.

My red Calabrian is a pretty aggressive spreader. When we moved in three years ago, it, the Russian sage, and the red hot pokers were going strong in our neglected yard. Since then we e landscaped everything in the back and the red valerian has been popping up in unexpected places. We have hard clay and they grow in both sun and part shade. So I guess I'm no help! Maybe your plays just need to get more mature? Ours seem to spread by root rather than by seed, I think.

Popmama, you are so generous offering all kinds of plants! I'm not really looking for so much anything aggressive or a good reseader, I just like many attributes of the red Valerian.

Faith, I think you may have hit it on the head!!! I tend to split my plants a lot. The one red Valerian that I split this spring was looking good, so I dissected into about 10 plants. That particular spot is where I found the wedged Valerian and the one in the ice plant. Tonight I just found another tiny start in that area. The other Valerian that I transplanted doesn't have any seedlings that I've found but there are so many other plants by where it was, there isn't much chance of anything growing.

I'm going to see how I do taking basal cuttings and stem cutting to propagate what I need in the other areas. Luckily the areas I'm putting it in, I don't care where it pops up (at least for now).

What I'm finding aggressive is the Shasta Daisy Becky. I love the look of the plant and the extremely long bloom time but it is taking over one of my garden areas. Spring apparently is the best time to transplant the Shasta Daisy and I'm hoping several gardeners want them for the spring swap. in 2018.

I wish my valerian would stay put... The footprint it takes up seems to double every year, so this spring I reduced it back to the original plant - getting those enormous roots out was a total pain! Yet still, it has become enormous and unruly again. Next year it's getting a peony cage.

I believe that, oddly, valerian spreads more aggressively in adverse conditions - put it in crappy soil, don't water it, and watch it take over your yard! That was certainly my experience. :) If you let it go completely to seed you should have volunteers within a year or two.

Garden chloe, try cutting them back as soon as the flowers start turning yellow, that will keep them in check. They'll rebloom so you'll have to keep at it, though...