Galium aparine - Bedstraw, Cleavers

Galium aparine, or Bedstraw grows easily from seed in oak woodlands with no care. If there isn't much plant material growing and there isn't much mulch the weeds will start up. I use this annual Bedstraw as a great solution to that problem, Galium aparine rapidly fill space and dies back at the end of Spring. I selectively weed to make space for Bedstraw any time I see it volunteer in a garden, and I take up a few seeds and sprinkle them into other gardens to get them going there too. Galium aparine grows to a foot tall, if it finds something to clamber up or over, and spreads to as much as 2-3 feet. The foliage of Galium aparine becomes increasingly fragrant as it dries. Galium aparine is native to much of the US, including almost every county in California and through much of Eurasia.