Re: Lysimachia 'Firecracker'

Val --

I went out tonight and checked the label and 'Firecracker' is indeed the
cultivar I have.  In two years I've never seen a green or even greenish
leaf on it.  I planted mine to be a groundcover in my blueberry bed
(partial sun, lots of peat, compost and mulch) so how tall or bushy it
gets has never been a concern for me.  The purple foliage serves to
complement the Siberian irises, columbines, Tricyrtis, heucheras and
other plants surrounding the blueberry bushes, adding a consistent
feature to the entire bed.  For other applications the pinching practice
sounds like a good idea.

I agree with Claire about the "invasive" thing.  I only mentioned the
word for the benefit of those people who like everything in neat, tidy
clumps: 'Firecracker' might not be the best plant for them.  My personal
philosophy is that I'd rather have the garden full of plants that I like
rather than leaving space for those things I consider weeds -- or for
neighborhood cats to do their "business."  

If it weren't for those yellow flowers I'd take divisions of
'Firecracker' and let it spread wherever it wants, but I have nightmares
of waking up one morning and finding the entire yard full of yellow
flowers!  ;-) 

Dean Sliger
Warren, Michigan, USA
Zone 6B


On Wed, 5 Jul 2000 08:26:14 -0400 Lowery@zeonchemicals.com writes:
> 
> Dean and Barbara:
> 
> I have the lysimachia that has been discussed over the last few 
> days.  Let
> me give you another perspective on what I do to keep it behaving, 
> because
> it is one of my favorite plants (I love the color of the leaves).
> 
> First, it will spread for me.  Not overly so like other lysimachias, 
> but it
> does seem to like the amended clay that it's in.  It can be 
> difficult to
> pull at times, so I'll do it after a rain which makes it a little 
> easier.
> It is growing in full sun, but hasn't lost the leaf color.  I will 
> agree
> with Dean's color description, which is why I bought it along with
> similarly colored heucheras to place along the front of my borders 
> here and
> there for a color break.
> 
> Because it is in the front of the border, I will pinch back the 
> plant twice
> early in the season.  I'll wait until it gets about 10" tall and 
> will pinch
> back the growing stems.  It'll get the same treatment about three 
> weeks
> later so I'll end up with a plant about 12" tall, but very full and 
> bushy.
> Everyone who sees it thinks it's a shrub, like the smoke bush 
> (another
> burgundy-leaved lovely).  As a result of this pinching, I won't see 
> a lot
> of those yellow flowers.  I don't mind them though, because the 
> effect
> against the burgundy is pretty special to me.
> 
> For some reason I hardly see any green leaves on my plant, so I 
> can't say
> that I have the same experience as the two of you.  Mine 
> consistently stays
> burgundy.  This plant requires no extra watering or fertilizing.  It 
> gets
> my annual spring dressing of horse manure and that's it.
> 
> What do you guys have growing with your lysimachia?  Right now, I 
> have a
> dark-leaved dahlia that is a deep, blood red ('Bishop of Llandaff' 
> -- if I
> spelled it correctly) near it, artemisia 'Valerie Finnis', and a 
> boltonia
> that looks like it's forming buds (way, way too early).  It's an OK 
> combo,
> but I feel like I could do the plant better justice.
> 
> Val in KY
> zone 6a
> 
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