Red-Veined Dock (Rumex Sanguineus) is an easy to grow foliage that is a very attractive ornamental plant. It also goes by the name Bloodwort. Which I have to admit sounds cooler than red-veined dock. Bloodwort could be this plant’s pirate name or rapper name I guess. And that would be fitting because this pretty little foliage plant has a bad side.
I planted one specimen of red-veined dock. It was pretty to look at and was somewhat shade resistant. But, this plant self-propagates on a level I have rarely seen. My first little plant bloomed and created lots of little seeds. I thought “Well, OK”. I then noticed that I had lots more of this cute little plant. Everywhere. It sprang up in other flower beds, it sprang up in the expansion spaces in the sidewalk, and it sprang up in the lawn. That means it has squeezed out the other normal weeds in my lawn!
Hi, this spot was empty. Do you mind if I move right in?
See, here is one hanging out with some other well known weeds like the dandelion, the clover, and the wild strawberry.
But, at least if it does take over the whole lawn, mowing will come with a lovely lemony herb smell! Young leaves of the red-veined dock have a lemony flavor like sorrel. But, red-dock is a wilder member of the Rumex family and has a high level of oxalic acid. This gives the plant the lemony flavor but can cause stomach upset and vitamin absorption issues in high amounts. So maybe a yard full of it is not such a great idea. But, I think this plant still as a useful place in the garden. It is attractive and requires zero effort to grow. I guess I will just keep pulling the new ones as they pop-up and pull the blooms before they can go to seed. And if one of them ever says “Feed me!” I am shutting this website down and running.
RSS Feed
