RE: Japanese knotweed or Polygonum cuspidatum

Marge,
Is Persicaria virginiana 'Variegata' the same plant as Persicaria virginiana
'Painter's Palette'?  People are fearful of it, but it is very well behaved
here in our mild climate.  I would think if it was going to go berserk, it
would do so here.  I planted 3 - 4" pots about 5 years ago.  They are still
well separated, nice clumps of very pretty leaves about 18" high with big
splashes of cream and the famous red chevron.  Peculiar little red wand
flowers in late summer....I used to cut them off until my customers told me
how choice they were  as cuts.  They have had every opportunity to self sow
and don't.  So I would say this is one Persicaria that is very well behaved.
 I also grow P. 'Red Dragon' for its beautiful silvery foliage marked with
dark red and P. amplexicaule 'Fire Tail' which blooms forever.  Both are
behaving nicely so far but I've only had them 2 years. (Beginning of soap
box)  And because I'm sick of taxonomy changing botanical names every other
year, I'm not changing the name of Persicaria again.  It doesn't matter
anyway, as  DNA is done on all the plants, we'll be getting some surprise
results and the names of everything will change again - once and for all.
(End of soap box).

Marilyn Dube'
Natural Designs Nursery
Portland, Oregon


-----Original Message-----
From:	owner-perennials@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf
Of Marge Talt
Sent:	Tuesday, March 18, 2003 11:44 PM
To:	perennials@hort.net
Subject:	Re: Japanese knotweed or Polygonum cuspidatum

> From: ECPep@aol.com
><A HREF="http://fisher.bio.umb.edu/knotweed/";>Click here: The
Japanese Knotweed Page: Research on Fallopia japonica and Related
Species</A>
>This page suggests all relatives may be a problem.
------------
Interesting, Claire.  I am not plagued with this weedy one (thank
heavens...I have enough plaguey plants), but I did buy Polygonum
cuspidatum 'Crimson Beauty' (now Fallopia japonica 'Crimson Beauty
according to RHS Plant Finder) from Plant Delights back in '96 with a
certain amount of fear and trepidation.  However, true to Tony's
word, this plant seems to be a clump former.  I even moved it a
couple years ago and there was absolutely no sign of rhizome
activity.  So far, have seen no seedlings, either and have never
gotten around to dead-heading.  It's a very attractive plant, BTW,
just like his catalog described:-)

Other than this plant, all Polygonum, Persicaria, Fallopia,
whatever-they-now-call-it, members of this family bear watching, tho'
I would not go so far as to say they are *all* a problem.  They can
be lovely in the right location or devour the garden, depending on
the plant, climate, soil, etc.  Some are very easy to remove; some
are not.  I would not 'never' grow any, simply because of their often
aggressive ways, but the gardener needs to grow them with their eyes
open to the possibilities.

I was given a bit of P. virginianum 'Variegatum' last year; barely
rooted, it hung on and I planted it in a triangle formed by 3 large
trees, figuring the root competition might keep it in check.  We
shall see:-)  It supposedly can move out if given ideal conditions.
My goal is to have the marvelous foliage (supposed to get about 5'
tall or so) without it realizing any plans for world domination...

I grew what was P. cuspidatum 'Afghan' from seed a number of years
ago.  It is not hardy for me, but makes a very attractive
groundcover...it has seeded into some large pots of Brugmansia, where
I leave it and seeded into the gravel floor of the greenhouse, where
I pull it out.  In a place where it was hardy, I think it would
really cover ground.  This is a very low-growing plant with a purple
chevron on the leaf, reddish stems and little pink ball
flowers...cute.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
-----------------------------------------------
Current Article: Wild, Wonderful Aroids Part 4 - Arisaema
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/shade_gardening
------------------------------------------------
Complete Index of Articles by Category and Date
http://mtalt.hort.net/article-index.html
------------------------------------------------
All Suite101.com garden topics :
http://www.suite101.com/topics.cfm/635

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index