Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum Virgatum)

I have a 3 year old west-facing garden/landscaped area in the front of my house. On the southern side, around a redbud tree, I had 10 astilbe plants. The three on the southernmost side, thus getting the most sun, dried out and have not flowered this year.

So, long story short, I went to a farmers market over the weekend, and a very reputable nursery suggested I replace the failed astilbe with Lythrum Virgatum. It's really a beautiful looking plant, and complements the astilbe and than annuals (wave petunias) I have planted in front of it very well.

I did a little research on the plant, and some of the information makes me feel like I'm destroying the planet! I guess there's some controversy over whether the Lythrum Virgatum is harmful like Lythrum Salicaria, although either variety is legal in my state (Illinois) - but not in neighboring states (Indiana, Wisconsin).

So what's the truth about what I bought? Is it harmful? Will it take over my garden, or was I sold a "harmless" cultivar? I'm not 100% sure what variety of Virgatum I bought - it may be The Rocket, but I threw out the tag. I could certainly ask the nursery - just thought I'd get some comments here.

I know this doesn't actually answer your question (because I'm not well versed on whether or not all species/varieties of Lythrum are equally problematic, although I believe many of them are real trouble)... but there's another plant known as "loosestrife" that might be a good alternative for you, Lysimachia. I've got purple fringed loosestrife http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57029/ growing in one of my beds, and it's a very hardy and attractive plant. Be aware, however, that it sends out runners and spreads like mint or monarda... so it can be a bit of a thug in a mixed perennial border.

Hi. In Michigan purple loosestrife is more than a thug. The State is doing what it can to erradicate this evasive species as it has decimated our native cattails. It is a beautiful plant (prettier than cattails) but another of those non-native plants which take over to the detriment of the natives. Check with the nursery to see if this might be a problem.

The one I was calling a "thug" in my garden is purple fringed loosestrife, a Lysimachia species that is entirely different from the invasive Lythrum species in the first post... just to be clear. :-)

Yes, the Lysimachia is a different genera. It looks like the Lysimachia plants need partial shade. This particular area gets very little shade in the afternoon - I suspect it's why my astilbes failed there when the astilbes that are partially shaded by my redbud are doing much better. I happen to like the Lythrum loosestrife - as long as it's not going to take over my landscaping or destroy the environment.

This message was edited Jul 14, 2008 1:07 PM

OK, you didn't mention they were in a really full sun spot... the place where I have the Lysimachia probably gets no more than a couple hours of shade, but it does get a little. I have the impression there's no such thing as a "safe" version of Lythrum, although if you get a "sterile" hybrid from the nursery *and* are very careful about deadheading the blooms, that will help.

Also, I think location is important in making decisions about potentially invasive species. I know I would be even more cautious if my property bordered on woodland or a wetland area, for example.

I hope you'll consider subscribing! With the interest and care you're taking in planning your landscape, I think you'd find a lot of good information in the forums that you can only fully access as a subscriber... check out the forum list, and you'll see there's an Invasive Plants discussion forum as well as one for Shady Gardens that might be useful for this situation. :-)

Here's a picture of the area in question. Over the weekend, I removed the three astilbe plants in the foreground (the one closest to the house is beginning to flower, so I left it there), in addition to adding mulch and sprucing things up. I replaced the three astilbes with two lythrum plants - the southwest exposure of this area gets the brunt of the afternoon sun (although it's in shade much of the morning).

Thank you critterologist - I will certainly look into subscibing. I just found the site today - it's really great. I don't know what I'm doing, but eager to learn.

Incidentally, I don't live near a woody or wetland area. I'm just outside of Chicago.

How about aneomone? Prince Henry is nice.

I'm wondering if yarrow (asclepias) give you a similar ferny/lacy look (if the foliage of the astilbe is part of what you're liking about it)... it should be more sun tolerant (and drought tolerant also once established, if that's a consideration).

I like that stone retaining wall around your bed! You might consider softening it with a border of creeping thyme, if you're so inclined... sounds like you get enough sun on that southwest side, anyway.

Whether or not the loosestrife stays, I think you'll have fun planting that pretty little bed! :-)

Thanks for the compiment - here's a wider angle view. The picture is a week old - it looks a lot better now that I've removed the dying astilbe, amended the soil in the annual bed, and put down some new hardwood mulch. I'll post an updated picture.

I really wasn't trying to replicate the look of the astilbes - I just asked the nursery owner what would look good and tolerate the area, and he brought me to the loosestrife. I have no idea what I'm doing - I'm trying to do stuff for myself becauce the big landscapers in the area - even the one that installed all of this for me a few years ago - don't pay much attention to you unless you have an annual maintenance contract, which I don't see a real need for. So I'm trying to do what I can with what little knowledge and time (two toddlers in the house) I have. I actually like the way the loosestrife looks and I was quite pleased with everything - until I found out I might be creating more issues than it's worth. But the nursery I bought it from is very reputable - I'll check back with them this weekend at the farmers market again.

I've thought about doing other things around the stone wall, as you suggest - originally the plans called for sedum, but I honestly don't remember it ever coming up when this was all planted (fall of '05), so it may have been omitted alltogeter. Last year I got the idea of putting in annuals - I did begonias last year, and petunias this year. I like the idea of having an annual bed, because there aren't a lot of bright colors in the garden (except for the black-eyed susans which are about to bloom in the middle - sure you'd appreciate being from MD). The redbud had done really well and having color in front of all the green is a nice touch. In the fall, I plan on replacing the petunias with potted mums

I'll put in a new pic tomorrow - thanks again for your help.

Oh, one more question - when I dug up the astilbes, I noticed a tremendous amount of ants and some beatles (a couple bright orange in color).

I assume they're not good for the plantings. I bought some small steaks you push into the ground for the ants - is there anything you would recommend that I spray or sprinkle on top of the mulch to control the insects without harming the plants? I did buy some spectricide granuals, but wanted to ask someone before I put it to use.

Thanks again.

This message was edited Jul 14, 2008 2:12 PM

Ooh, I LIKE that bed!

I read the label on the Spectricide granules last year (we have lots of ants, mostly the little tiny ones, just everywhere), and I decided I didn't want it where our cats or young nieces/nephews might walk in it. In general, unless I've got an infestation of something that's just overwhelming a plant, I let the good bugs and bad bugs battle it out... maybe a little insecticidal soap now and then, but the less I spray the fewer problems I seem to have. Ants can be a problem if there are so many that the nests create air pockets around the roots and dry out the plant... but otherwise, they're just a bother.

We do spray Ortho Home Defense along the bottom of our doorways, windowsills, and anywhere ants might enter the house. It's the most effective (and least smelly) product I've found.

Especially since you've got toddlers, consider growing some balsam impatiens in the shady part of your annual bed... those exploding seed pods are a hoot! Hopefully, mine will flower in time to produce seeds this year. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/156/

I do like black-eyed susans, and they do well here. But for an even longer blooming period, I've decided I prefer yellow ox-eye, which I grew out from mislabeled seed, so discovering how well it does for me was a total stroke of good luck! http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/49/

I wanted to add something to the discussion on Loosestrife - I think the plant is beautiful and I grew quite a bit of it in my yard in areas where it couldn't spread. I thought it couldn't cause any problems because I don't live anywhere near any wetland areas, but a friend, who is far more knowledgeable than I am about environmental concerns, explained that birds are the main reason the plant gets dispersed where it can be invasive. When I asked him about the sterile varieties, he said that often what is sold as sterile, in fact, is not and there's no way to tell the difference.

I've got some impatients in my back yard bordering either side of a walkway to a detached garage. I didn't realize there were so many species. Impatients are abundent in my neighborhood - they're great because they are so easy to grow and they're cheap.

The bed in the front yard doesn't really have a shady spot in front of the redbud tree, since the front of the house faces west. The rear of the bed does get some shade from the neighboring house and his garden bed, which is basically a bunch of evergreen bushes - but the front really gets drenched in afternoon sun. It's sunny out today - I'll take a picture when I get home.

It's the rear of the bed where I thought you could tuck a few garden balsams (they're a taller plant)... and once you have them, they'll most likely reseed every year.

I like impatiens, too, and I often end up starting some from seed, just because I fall in love with a particular variety (like the double ones that look like little roses) that I generally can't find locally as plants... also, I tend to pinch pennies and buy annuals by the 6-pack, but when I start from seed I grow them by the flat! :-)

Growgirl, that's a good point about birds spreading loosestrife (Lythrum) seed.

My bad. Sorry, critterologist. I didn't mean to suggest that your loosestrife was a problem. I really know little about the various species, just that there has been a lot of news regarding purple loosestrife in MI and that it is invasive. Good point about unscrupulus sellers though Growgirl. Guess you really have to know your plants.

No, I think the "bad" was mine for introducing a second plant with the same common name on this thread! :-)

I'm not sure there's any way to tell "sterile" from nonsterile cultivars until they set seed (or don't)... everything I've read suggests that the best bet might be to take the loosestrife (Lythrum) back to the nursery and exchange it for something you *know* doesn't have those sorts of issues. You may indeed have a "safe" sterile one, but then again...

On some of the "invasive species" issues, it can depend a lot on your local climate and conditions, whether or not a plant is going to be problematic for you... things that are horribly invasive in FL are just fine in IL, because they can't survive the winter there... but there are a few plants, like kudzu and loosestrife (Lythrum), that I think are just trouble everywhere.

OK, here's a picture from late yesterday afternoon of the area with the loosestrife (planted Saturday before I knew I might be destroying the earth!) Of course, being late in the day, the trees on the other side of the street were already providing shade, so you can't really appreciate the amount of mid-day sun the bed gets.

At least the Lythrum looks nice, and really compliments the astilbe well. This weekend, in addition to possibly replacing the Lythrum (which I'd rather not have to do), I need to finish my mulching job and divide/replant some of the fountain grasses.

I'll post another picture below from this morning - it may shed some light (literally) on why some of the astilbe failed.

Here's a picture from this morning - as the sun moves south across the eastern sky, it peeks through between my house and the neighbors house for an hour or so. I'm guessing that's why the three astilbe plants, located where the two lythrums now sit, failed. In addition to pretty full afternoon sun, this area also gets lots of sun in the early to mid-morning. At least the one astilbe I kept gets shaded by the carnation bush along the side of the house.

I'm not sure it was a light issue... I think some of my astilbe gets about that much light, but it may be getting more water or something else that makes it put up with the sunshine. Regardless, I love the way your cottage-type plants soften the brick and stone of your beautiful home!

Thank you for the compliments.

The only reason I conlcuded it was too much sun was, well first when I showed the nursery manager that's what he suspected, and second, the other astilbe, on the west and north side of the redbud, are doing great. All have flowered very well. The one at the back of the garden that I kept gets slightly more shade, so I came to my layman's conclusion.
You could be right about the watering issue as well - when I use an oscillating sprinkler to water the lawn, the redbud "shelters" the south side of the bed from much of the water. I'll need to make sure to hand water that side more often.

Whatever the reason, the weaker astilbes are gone and replaced thus far with the "evil" lythrum. I really appreciate all the help.

I was thinking about putting something in between the black-eyed susans and the astilbe in the front - perhaps some russian sage to balance it with the sage on the left side of the black eyed susans (put in another picture so you can see). I think it might be overkill and I don't want to block the view of the evergreens. What do you think?

If it's sunnier there, how about some salvia or lavender? You'd get similar purple flower spikes as with the russian sage, but it would be shorter and different... lavender would also give you scented silvery foliage... hmm, you'd have to check to see what variety of lavender might be hardy for you...

Thanks - I'll check into that his weekend.

Basically, I like the idea of echoing the form of the russian sage without actually repeating it, and I'm thinking something a little less large might work well... for a taller spiky plant, liatris might be a possibility, also. Sea Holly might be another possibility for a taller plant there, if you like the looks of it... (similar colors, different texture) http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/827/. Take your time and enjoy the fact that you have an "open" spot in your garden to fill. :-)

I looked at some salvia on-line. If I can find a dwarf (12") version of something with a blueish/purple tint to the flowers, I think that's a winner. I don't want it to get as high as the russian sage because it will block the hicks yew behind it.

Do you care if the salvia is a perennial for you? Here are some pretty ones that are shorter, but they won't be hardy in your zone
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2631/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/82359/

Have you looked at Salvia nemorosa 'Marcus', I planted that with some ornamental grasses and the effect was pretty nice. It's only 8-12 inches high (according to the tag). It's supposed to be hardy to zone 3. I'm just a beginner too, but I thought I'd throw that out there lol I put it in front of the grasses for a little color.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions - I ordered some Salvia from a local nursery to plant this week. Thought I'd give that a try.

By the way, the Lythrum that started this thread is still there - the wife likes it, it looks great next to the Astilbe, it's not illegal in Illinois and I'm nowhere near a wetland, so it stays for now.

Just deadhead it when it's finished blooming so any seeds don't get a chance to go traveling... with a small garden bed and a few plants, it's easy enough to keep up with that sort of thing... if I plant something out in my "wild blue yonder" of an overgrown back perennial bed, I know there's no way it's going to be tended to like that, LOL!