Extension Educator, Horticulture Beaten, eaten, poked, smoked,
scorned, but rarely mourned. At some time in our lives a weed
will be on our hit list. However some weeds are more than just a
"plant out of place". Weeds at their worst can degrade natural
areas and take over home landscapes to produce an unwanted one-
plant show. Garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata, has been the
scourge of forested areas for years but now has moved into
gardens. Garlic mustard is native to Europe where it hangs out
in hedgerows, fencerows and open canopy woods. Here in the
Midwest it loves the partial shade of our deciduous forests and
backyard gardens where it can literally blanket the ground and
choke out other plants in its path. As a cool season biennial,
garlic mustard seeds germinate in early spring to form a rosette
(bouquet) of kidney bean shaped leaves. In spring, usually
starting the first of May, the mature plant sends up a 2.5-3
foot tall flower stalk with numerous small four-petaled white
flowers. It's actually kind o