The species is incredibly invasive in parts of the US and England too. I would not even trust a cultivar ....

The invasive one is Japanese Knotweed, Fallopia japonica. As far as I am aware 'Painter's Palette' is a cultivar of Persicaria virginiana, a knotweed, but not THAT knotweed. I have never grown it but I have a constant battle against JK.

Here is a link that might be useful: Painter's Palette

There is Fallopia japonica 'variegata'...but 'Painter's Palette' is "the other" knotweed...persicaria... as flora said.

ken, I grow both and technically, i'm south of you. lol

I love Fallopia but even the variegated one has it's parents "wannabe" invasiveness. It's manageable but can be a PITA...I have it growing where it's wants to grow...not where I want it to grow. (for the love of god..please..nobody plant the species...)

Painters palette hasn't been invasive at all for me. It dies to the ground, comes back in a clump and minds its manners. i have it in normal garden soil stuffed into a bed that also has vinca minor (might keep it in check..? dunno). I love it...i also have the 'Red dragon' variety...

Ok next time, ken, use the right name, ok? Not "fallopia"! ;)

In Ken's defense the knotweeds as a whole are a very taxonomically confused genus and there have been all sorts of names applied to varying species almost interchangeably, including Fallopia, Persicaria, Polygonum (still the most common), Tovara, Fagopyrum and a few others! Wiki has a pretty decent breakdown of the current accepted taxonomy

They are all rhizomatous herbaceous perennials (and a few annual weeds) - some are highly invasive, others less so.
'Painter's Pallette' can revert and become a much more aggressive garden inhabitant than typical but it generally has a reputation for being moderately well-behaved.

Still, a plant I'd think twice about before including in my garden :-)