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Centranthus ruber

I have been seeing Centranthus ruber (Aka Jupiter's Beard aka Red Valerian)
around Oakland a lot lately.  It's very pretty and seems to grow with
little care.  Actually, I didn't have a clue what it was but I posted to
rec.gardens and ba.gardens asking for an ID and someone obliged me.  The
URL with scans of it is

	http://www.best.com/~cnorman/gardening/pinkflowers.html

(there's still one more flower I can't ID).

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.

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.  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?

Should I grow it?

Thanks,
Cyndi

_______________________________________________________________________________
Oakland, California            Zone 9 USDA; Zone 16 Sunset Western Garden Guide
Disabled, chemically sensitive, wheelchair user          Organic Gardening only
_______________________________________________________________________________
"There's nothing wrong with me.  Maybe there's                     Cyndi Norman
something wrong with the universe." (ST:TNG)                   cnorman@best.com
                                                   http://www.best.com/~cnorman
_________________________ Owner of the Immune Lists http://www.best.com/~immune
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