I'm looking for hardy ferns for zone 6-7. I have loosestrife for trade.
Kathy
Have loosestrife for ferns
If it is the purple and NOt white I can send you a woodland fern for a few roots. Shirley
Which loosestrife is it?
Purple Loosestrife is an invasive all across the US & beyond - be certain that this variety is a non-invasive hybrid. Some hybrids can also cross pollinate with others & produce invasive plant seeds. Here is more info:
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/ipm/ipmbio.htm
I am a first year Beetle Farmer - a newbie, so I have learned a lot about this plant. I never knew about this plant before now - I just thought it was so pretty, with that lavender color across the marshes. The garden centers keep selling it, claiming harassment. But this is so much bigger than that - it is a continent wide problem!
Julie
Lysimachia punctata-Yellow Loosestrife
http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=555037
This message was edited May 9, 2006 10:42 AM
Thanks I have that Shirley
i can send wood ferns... have been looking for purple loosestrife,there is none around. i want some to put beside one of my ponds. it will be contained and not allowed to spread. i have no other body of water or marsh around for it to spread
I just dug a load of these plants today, for the beetle project! This stuff is aggressive - & the roots are so sturdy. I can see why it spreads so easily! I have heard that PA & farther South have less of this plant, but here in CT & up the coast, we are inundated with it. The seeds are also a problem - they can produce thousands of seeds per plant. Just some words of caution - it may get a hold of your property, even if you are very careful. It is so pretty though.
Our place is covered with it. I haven't tried to remove it, since it's purple and doesn't have prickers. I've admittedly let them grow, wacking other nasties around them. This thread, prompts me to want to at least try to contain them by cutting them down before they seed. It's not feasible for me to try to eradicate them (at least, not very soon on the priority list).
What will the beetle introduced to eat loosestrife eat when the loosestrife is gone?
How long from bloom to seed for the flowers?
I don't have that problem here. They are very hardy but nothing like you both speak of.
The beetles were imported - their only food is the Purple Loosestrife. When the plant numbers decrease due to their success, they will adjust their reproduction. Mother Nature's way birth control: no food - no babies! I too was worried that the beetles would move on to other plants when their food sources were gone. But they don't eradicate the plant - they just control them. They prevent the plants from seeding - which is the main objective. Perhaps VA just isn't hospitable enough for them to become a problem. Maybe it never will!
Would you care to trade 3-4 hostas for purple loosestrife? Have lots of named& unnamed host that I will be dividing - giants to minis. I have been looking for it for 3 years. Also have ostrich ferns, they are quite common here- don't know about your area. Sorry- looked again the yellow would be ok I don't have that either.
This message was edited May 31, 2006 5:57 PM
I have cinamon ferns and native Indiana ferns. Rachel