![]() ![]() Instead, try growing another variety, such as gooseneck, if loosestrife must be grown as all. Responsible gardeners will not plant any form of purple loosestrife, and info about its dangers should be passed along to others. Research has shown that these cultivars may not self-pollinate, but they do cross pollinate with their wild cousins, making them part of the problem. Several cultivars are still marketed as sterile varieties. Care should be taken when ordering plants from states still unaffected. In some states, noxious weed laws make it illegal to cultivate garden loosestrife. Care and restoration of affected areas rely on the plants removal. Waterfowl avoid areas overgrown with the insidious loosestrife plant. Cattails, an invaluable source of food and nesting material, are replaced. Their roots and overgrowth form dense mats that choke out native plant life and, in turn, destroy the food sources for local wildlife.īirds can’t eat the hard seed. They are so prolific that they can take over a site in a single year, making loosestrife plant care difficult. ![]() The greatest danger the aggressive spread of purple loosestrife plants present is to marshes, wet prairies, farm ponds, and most other aquatic sites. The percentage that will germinate far exceeds the norm. Each mature purple loosestrife plant can produce a half million seeds per year. Since it is disease and pest free, and blossoms into showy purple spikes from late June to August, garden loosestrife appears to be an ideal landscape addition.ĭying flowers are replaced by seed pods between July and September. The very things that make it so dangerous to the environment make it appealing to gardeners. The purple loosestrife plant, also called garden loosestrife, is a beautiful plant that can grow 3 to 10 feet (1-3 m.) tall with its woody angular stem. Control measures have also been hampered by local gardeners who take the plant home. It has an aggressive growth habit and because it has no natural enemies (insects and wildlife won’t eat it), there is nothing out there to stop the spread of purple loosestrife. Purple Loosestrife InfoĬoming from Europe, purple loosestrife was introduced to North America some time in the early to mid 1800’s, probably by accident, but attempts at purple loosestrife control did not begin until the mid 1900’s. Purple loosestrife info is readily available from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in most of the states affected and is considered a noxious weed. It has become a menace to the native plants in the wetlands of these areas where it chokes out the growth of all its competitors. The purple loosestrife plant ( Lythrum salicaria) is an extremely invasive perennial that has spread throughout the upper Midwest and northeastern United States. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |