Plant identification needed - please see photo

newhome2021

11 years ago

Dear Master Gardeners, please help me identify this pink plant up front. Thank you for your time and expertise. Eva

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

11 years ago

You are free to disagree all you want but it doesn't change the facts. Lythrum salicaria is one of the top 10 invasive species in both this country and Canada. It is listed as an invasive species in 47 of the 48 contiguous states and in all the bordering Canadian provinces. It is also illegal to grow, sell or distribute the species and any garden cultivars of the species in 17 states.

It is not that it 'could escape' or 'could pollinate' - it does, and that fact has been well established. They are all the same plant - it's just that selections were made for garden cultivation with the assumption that the seeds they produced were sterile. This has been determined to be false. Garden cultivars are just as likely to produce fertile seeds as their wild cousin and the seeds will not necessarily come true to form. In other words, they can revert. And that fact is behind the prohibition of any named cultivars in states that restrict or prohibit sales. One of the issues that always seems to stir up discontent about the validity of invasive species is that it is often not obvious in a garden setting that they are invasive so the assumption is made they are not. This is a fallacious assumption. Each plant of Lythrum can produce as much as 2.7 million tiny seeds which are easily dispersed by wind and water. They can travel great distances, land on moist soil, overwinter and then germinate. As they prefer moist/wet conditions, infestations disrupt wetlands and waterways and alter ecological conditions, overwhelming native plantings and altering habitat and food sources for wildlife.

Forget-me-nots and orange daylilies are not considered invasive because they do not cause ecological or economic harm, which is a major factor in the definition of an invasive species and is the criteria purple loosestrife meets with open arms. Annual control costs, loss of habitat and disruption of agricultural crops run into the millions of dollars. Vinca and English ivy are considered invasive in some areas and certain regulations apply to them as well.

There are so any other great garden plants that pose no threat to the environment that it just doesn't make sense nor is it very responsible to persist in growing what is one of the most significantly invasive plant species we have to deal with.

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Comments (6)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
11 years ago
This is not the Master Gardener forum, if you are using that term in the way it is usually recognised.

But anyhoo.....the plants looks like one of the Veronica cultivars.
Carrie B
11 years ago
From what I can see in the photo, the plant up front is purple loosestrife, Lythrum. A terrible invasive in much of the US. Best removed & bagged for the landfill - do NOT compost.
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gardenshine
11 years ago
It is indeed Lythrum. Although don't be to hasty to judge. I have these plants in my garden and they are very nice perennials. I know all about the invasive nature of the wild form of Lythrum as I live in PA where is grows readily in our waterways and is hard to remove. The theory is the seeds escaped from our cultivated gardens and migrated into the wild, the roots are woody and invasive. The 2 Lythrums I have in my garden are sterile and have never produced any seed, nor have they gotten any larger or done any suckering. They have both been in the same place for 14 years. AND we have a stream bed that is 150' away from the garden. They were originally purchased from a local nursery and they look exactly like the ones you have. I know also that the "wild" Lythrum is much taller and narrower, 2' wide by 4-5' tall. You can dig it up if want... I'll be glad to give it a home in my garden.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
11 years ago
Even cultivated forms of Lythrium are problematic.

"Garden varieties of loosestrife, which were once thought to be sterile, have been proven to cross-pollinate with wild purple loosestrife to
produce viable seed. Gardeners can help control the spread of this
plant and protect our environment from its harmful impacts by not
planting purple loosestrife or the following cultivars:

Atropurpureum, Brightness, Columbia Pink, Dropmore Purple,
Firecandle, Flashfire, Floralie, Florarose, Gypsy Blood, Happy, Lady
Sackville, Morden Gleam, Morden Pink, Morden Rose, Pink Spires, Purple
Dwarf, Purple Spires, Robert, Rose Gleam, Rose Queen, Roseum superbum,
Rosy Gem, Rosy Glow, The Beacon, The Rocket, or Tomentosum."

" Originally many garden varieties of purple loosestrife such as
Morden Pink, Morden Gleam or Dropmore Purple were considered to be
sterile (did not produce seed), safe horticultural cultivars. Recent
scientific studies have shown that these varieties are indeed capable
of pollen and seed production. These plants can readily cross pollinate
with other garden varieties, as well as wild loosestrife populations.
In a Manitoba study, Morden Pink cultivars were planted near a wetland
with purple loosestrife and six months later all Morden Pink plant
produced viable seed. The majority of wild infestations of purple
loosestrife are the result of garden escapes."
gardenshine
11 years ago
Sorry, I don't agree. We have wild lythrum here in our wetlands too and the culture is much different than the lythrum in my garden. Mine is shorter and very clump forming and blooms much earlier (July) .... in fact mine is pretty much done before the wild child starts blooming(Aug). I think the wild lythrum is a different cultivar than the domestic. They may cross pollinate but I don't believe the domestic variety is to blame for the expansion of its wild cousin. It is more likely that the wild variety was here first and we (humans) used it to breed ourselves a more docile plant for our gardens. Also .... wild Lythrum does not need our garden Lythrum for pollination or germination or anything .... it is completely capable of doing that for itself. So for people to say I should destroy a beautiful plant because it "could escape" or "could pollinate" a wild species is, in my mind, ridiculous. If , indeed it does "escape" than why isn't it popping up all over my yard and acres of open fields? Anyone got a comment about the Forget-me-Nots, orange Daylilies, Vinca and Ivy groundcovers that are rampant "escapees"? No one is telling you that they are noxious weeds and you should destroy them. My Lythrum is staying.