Re: purple loosestrife

It doesn't surprise me at all.  Not too long ago the chief horticulturalist 
at one of the largest nurseries/garden centers in Canada told me that he 
recommended purple loosestrife to gardeners regularly.  When I asked him 
about the problems it was causing in wetlands he told me it was all 
nonsense, that there was no purple loosestrife problem, and that even if 
there were the only people who it affected were a few duck hunters.  
Needless to say I wrote the company in question and told them that I would 
not be buying from them in future.  They tried to tell me that his opinions 
were his own and that they didn't agree with him, but they hadn't stopped 
selling it.
A prominent garden writer (well, for Canada) stated that the problem was 
overblown. He said that for a couple of years there had been purple 
loosestrife growing along the Don River (I drive along it five days a week 
to get to work) but that it had disappeared now.  I can only assume that he 
must have been looking for it in January, because anybody who isn't colour 
blind would have seen huge plots of it this summer, and every year before 
it. I always thought he was an idiot, but this convinced me of it.
There are plenty of people who don't know there's a problem, and lots more 
who don't care, as long as they can grow it in their garden.

Bob Campbell
USDA 4


>From: Margaret Lauterbach <mlaute@micron.net>

>I've been told that Better Homes & Gardens featured it recently as an
>outstanding garden plant. I don't read the magazine, and for sure I'm not
>going to now if that was true.  Margaret L
>
>
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