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Re: Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum)

> >> It looks like I've planted Purple Loosestife in my garden!  However, it
> >> looks beautiful, and hasn't given me any trouble yet.  What should I do to
> >> control it?  Or should I completely rip it out while I still can?  The
> >> real problem in my garden, is Artemesia Silver King.  It has overtaken two
> >> small geranium plants.  But that's another story...
> >
> >My neighbor says the wind can blow the seeds onto distant stream
> >banks.  I bike every day from my house down to the Beltsville
> >Park, down Howard Road, past numerous specimen plants of lythrum
> >(generally one per garden), and then for a mile along the Paint
> >Branch, as it's called.  No seeds have blown down to the stream
> >bed in the thirty years I've lived here.  Well, I mean they
> >haven't taken root.
> >
> >It's a wonderful plant, and if you haven't a bog, enjoy it!
> 
> I agree with Liane this plant is only a problem if it is near water. It's
> very content with its location in my garden and it doesn't seem to want to
> spread to other areas . I wish the same was true of some of the other
> plants I grow.

I don't want to go around saying who's right and who's wrong, but 
here's a web page that may be of interest.  I've been trying to get
my Mom to get rid of Lythrum salicaria for a few years now, but with
no success.

   http://www.ducks.ca/prov/purple.htm

Here's a passage from it:

   CULTIVAR CONFUSION 

	Loosestrife cultivars have been developed for use as garden
	ornamentals and landscaping plants.  Cultivars such as 'Morden
	Pink', 'Morden Rose', 'Morden Gleam' and 'Dropmore Purple'
	were thought to be safe for garden use, in that they would
	not produce viable seeds. Recent research has indicated that
	cultivars can cross amongst themselves or with wild loosestrife
	and produce viable seed, further contributing to the spread of
	loosestrife. Plants do not have to be near each other to cross
	pollinators. Loosestrife planted in gardens may eventually
	spread to drainage ditches, streams, creeks, wetlands, and
	rivers. Many wild populations can be traced back to garden or
	horticultural escapes.

Chris
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