Whatever kind of Betony I had destroyed a lawn. I am not a fan of turf grass, preferring to mow what grows, but when the Betony died down it left huge bare areas. Of course it was in the front yard so it was ugly. In another home I had it in the veg garden and it made for a weedy bed and competed for the fertilizer.

There is a guy up here in Jax that is a fan of the Pagoda Clerodendron,C. paniculatun. He gives them away all the time and encourages folks to let them spread.
I believe almost all Cleros are invasive. They are so pretty it is easy to get taken in by them. On a ride one day we saw a wooded area, probably 1/8 of a mile along a road and probably at least that deep that was solid Pagodas. It was striking to see, all that orange, but very obvious they had smothered any native trees or shrubs.

I know, the clerodendrums definitely are invasive and I don't give them away to anybody any more. But in my yard, where they have to compete with oak tree roots every inch of the way, they've been very civilized. The occasional one pops up in a bad spot, but in general the few I've let grow seem to be staying put. Same with the Pagoda - I have it in one spot, and it wanders here and there, a tiny plant or two but never goes far. The oaks seem to control the invasive stuff for me pretty well.

As to the betony, it can do it's thing out in the back 40 on the lousy soil they trucked in to cover our new septic field. Yes, what I have is Stachys floridana, the native one and I absolutely did think it was dying or dead when I plunked it in that Earth Box in August. Interestingly, it seems a lot of the natives I've planted out there are what Tiffany refers to as "spring ephemerals". i.e. I'm hoping to see them re-emerge when it warms up a bit because they sort of disappeared over the summer.

Sounds good. ; ) And let us know if you find any tubers.

Other spring ephemerals (in my location anyway) are henbit, creeping Charlie, Carolina Geranium, chickweed, velcro weed/bedstraw/cleavers, some kind of Vicia with minuscule flowers, pretty pink bulb Oxalis, black medic, couple others that don't come to mind. It seems like they're going to take over the world, but after those first couple hot days, they disappear within a week. I quit devoting any effort to getting rid of those unless they're in my way. If left alone, they take themselves out, contributing some good organic matter to the soil in the process.

I wish Chamberbitter would go away and stay there.

That plant is a real butthole! Doesn't sprout until it's already hot, have to let it develop some to pull it or the stems just break, hides in the evening by folding its leaves, smells terrible, drops an insane amount of seeds.

I don't have too much trouble with invasive plants in my garden, the one that gives me the most trouble is skunkvine, Paederia foetida. I also have some smilax vine in a front garden bed, I'll never get rid of since the roots are down under an oak.
I do have Pagoda Clerodendron, it stays in one corner and easy to control, I won't give any away to anyone, letting them know it can take over. My garden is pretty sandy soil and dry, no wet areas, you don't want Clerodendron if you have lower areas that stay wet after rains...trust me.

I was just noticing that most of my amaryllis in the ground have mushy foliage after the freeze. The exception is San Antonio Rose, a species that blooms very late, usually mid June. The foliage looks as good as a day in mid summer.