WARNING! These Purple Flowers in Maine are not What You Think

Maine wild flowers can be so pretty.

I try not to show my sensitive side very often, but I do appreciate life's pretty and beautiful things. I enjoy a killer sunset. I love a good mountain view. And I can even admit that a cute little flower will get my attention from time to time. Even thought they're nothing super special, I love Johnny Jump Ups quite a bit, as I'm partial to purple.

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Maine has a ton of different varieties of purple flowers. Knapweed, some kinds of phlox, some varieties of vetch... All lovely, little purple flowers. But some, as nice as they can be to look at at, have bad intentions for your yard. You may lull yourself into thinking that something that lovely could be so damaging, but let's talk about Dame's Rocket.

What is Dame's Rocket?

Technically, it's an herb in the mustard family. You'd think it would have some kind of use as an edible plant, and it does. In fact, it's delicious. But, the insidious problem, is that it's also a highly volatile, invasive species of plant. If it does take hold in your yard, you'll need to essentially eat your weight in it every year, to keep up.

You'll find if you decide to eat it, it tastes a lot like arugula. Which makes sense, as a lot of people specifically refer to arugula as rockets. But even though salads are an option as growth control, it'll be hard to keep up. Dame's rocket takes years of hard work to get out of your yard, once it's gained its footing.

How do you tell it from other purple flowers?

With Dame's Rocket, the plants can grow 2-4 feet tall, and the flowers have four petals, located fairly high up the plant. The leaves are kind of pointy, oblong, toothed, and a bit hairy. Sure, other plants may fit a similar description, so you may want to do some solid research before you make your final judgement call.

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It's always nice to have pretty flowers in your yard. But sadly, there's always some that are going to try and literally take over your whole yard. Dame's Rocket is one of those plants. So get familiar, and get ready to do battle with your yard. Or, do like I do and just let the poor Dame's Rockets win, hahaha. Then mow 'em down. Bye-bye!

How many of these live in your yard?