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Re: Centranthus ruber

On Fri, 29 May 1998 18:45:50 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:

>I have been seeing Centranthus ruber (Aka Jupiter's Beard aka Red Valerian)
[Snip]
>Can anyone tell me more about this plant?  I have a decent idea of how to
>grow it (put it somewhere other plants won't grow, especially poor dry
>sunny soil) and I'm assuming you propagate it by seed.

Cindi, 

Centranthus ruber is a pretty tough plant which grows well in fairly
hostile conditions, producing a very long, deep tap root.  It is
especially well adapted to living in rocky soils and tolerant of a
fairly high level of alkalinity.  Provided the seedlings (can also be
rooted from soft shoot tips) are watered in well and given a bit of
care when very young, they will quickly establish and take quite high
levels of heat and sun.  

Here in the South West of England it is a exceptionally common plant -
virtually a weed and is frequently seen growing on dry stone walls and
cliff faces.  At the moment all the colour varieties - deep pink (the
commonest), red and white are in full flower and nearly every old
wall, hedge-row and bare patch of ground is a mass of colour.

>My real question is about it being invasive.  Sunset starts off it's
>description by saying: "Rank, invasive, and much malgined."  This is not a
>good sign.  

It can be a coarse thing, especially in rich soils and light shade.
It rapidly reproduces itself from copiously produced seed, however
this can be avoided if all flower heads are cut off as they fade.
This also encourages repeat flowering.  If it 'likes' you and you are
a laisse-faire gardener (my way of describing someone who lets the lot
go mad without doing a thing!), it could take over and pop up
everywhere.  It really depends upon how eager you are with the
secateurs. 

Every year I must get several thousand seedlings which appear in my
garden, but these are easily dealt with by using a hoe.  The seeds
have their own small 'parachutes' which operate in much the same way
as those in dandelions.  They can travel  short distance in the wind,
but are comparatively heavy and fall to the ground more readily.

>I like it but I don't want to add to a regional weed problem
>(where weed is defined as a non-native plant taking over native space).
>Where is it native to?

Europe - especially southern countries, however it is also a native of
the UK with main areas of distribution in the south.

HTH

David Poole
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