Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.     A group of about a dozen flexible people gathered at the Nederland Community Center on Saturday morning and armed themselves with shovels, gloves, hats, sunscreen, and bags of wildflower seed. The good kind.

TEENS, Inc. youth corps leader Jonathan Baumhover held up a brilliant purple flower and said, "It's beautiful isn't it?" instructing the teens to pull it out by the root, extricate it from its hold on the earth. Bag it and destroy it. The gorgeous tall stalk with abundant pink to purple flowers is Dames Rocket and is popping up all over the mountain area.

Dames Rocket is a noxious weed that grows up to three feet tall and reproduces by seed from May to July. Most seeds germinate the following year, but many remain dormant and may show up several years later. This plant is considered to be an escaped ornamental and has often been distributed in wildflower seed mixes.

Baumhover told the group that although the Dames Rocket is a colorful addition to a wildflower display, it has a tendency to spread rapidly and will take over native plants if allowed.

The pullers spread out around the NCC and the trail leading into town, yanking at stubborn roots, digging out the stuck ones and sprinkling native seeds over the dirt.

Scentless chamomile poked out of rock outcroppings on the hillside, grabbing a deep hold for survival. These flowers resemble the Oxeye Daisy, also a  noxious weed, with broader leaves and bigger flowers. Both should be pulled. These plants are found along rights-of-way, ditches, in urban areas and cultivated fields and pastures.

The Let's Pull Together project combed the NCC area and Chipeta Park, searching out and eradicating the culprits that threaten to squeeze out our native, less-aggressive wildflowers. Additional weed pulls will take place on July 12 and August 9.