weed with red roots

emer_b

I've googled this and cant find it anywhere. Sorry I don't have a picture.
Its a weed with dark red/wine coloured small leaves and red roots. Looks a bit like clover/shamrock. Has a tiny trumpet shaped orange flower. Its actually quite pretty!

Spreading fast through my flower beds. Puts down lots of legs and is impossible to pick, have to dig it out. It basically just covers the ground.
Have never seen it before but want to stop it from spreading everywhere.
Any ideas?

Aeneas

Sounds like oxalis, which has several forms, some green, some red or copper coloured. It usually comes in with plants bought in garden centres either as a small plant or through seeds hidden in the soil. I got rid of mine (well almost) through a combination of digging out, mulching, and Roundup (they have a handy gel dispenser which you rub on the plant). You have to keep after it though, it's quite persistent. Try looking up oxalis on the Internet to see if its what you have.

bmaxi

Yes, does sound like Oxalis. I used a weed burner with some success but it is a bugger to get rid of, just when you think you've seen the last of it, it pops up somewhere else. It can even grow up through shrubs, like a climber. :eek:

emer_b

Thanks guys, that's it alright. I regret the day I first saw it in the garden and decided to let it grow. For the first few years in the house I was always finding little things that others had planted before me, I thought this was another one of those surprises! I usually find weeding quite therapeutic but this one is a real pain.

Thanks for the help!