What the h#!! do you want to buy this plant for???

Not a good idea.

http://www.invasive.org/eastern/biocontrol/11PurpleLoosestrife.html
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/1999/loosstrf/impact.htm
http:

Here is a link that might be useful: Mass Wetlands Restoration News; See page 7

Liatris can be a good substitute, if you like purple spikes - or lupines, if you're trying to build a meadow.

Well I like Loosestrife it has a long nectar flow for my Bees to work!!

Merry Christmas

Yes honeyman the bees love it but it is still illegal to grow in your state!!
The 2nd most destructive (terrestrial) noxious weed in the country, i believe....

I don`t grow it but I do enjoy it and I am not convenced that it is as bad as it is protraied. It is said to choke out cat tails but we have a lot of them and they are not hurting so to each his own.

To each his own, if you could keep it on your own land. You can't. It does choke the cattails, and everything else in its path, except possibly bamboo. It is illegal, and for good reason.

For now maybe...
But the The Nature Conservancy has this to say about the biology...
"Infestations of purple loosestrife appear to follow a pattern of establishment, maintenance at low numbers, and then dramatic population increases when conditions are optimal. L. salicaria flourishes in wetland habitats that have been disturbed or degraded from draining, natural drawdown in dry years, bulldozing, siltation, shore manipulation, cattle trampling, or dredging. Mudflats exposed following drawdowns will be quickly colonized if a loosestrife seed source is present. Seeds are usually present in such large numbers and germinate in such high densities that growth of native seedlings is suppressed (Rawinski 1982). Loosestrife crowds or shades out native species and eventually becomes a virtually monospecific stand.
L. salicaria is an extremely successful invader of wetlands that have been subjected to some type of disturbance: drawdown, siltation, drainage, ditching. Expansion in a wetland can be extensive and sudden due to the abundance of seeds produced and the rapid growth of seedlings. High seed viability and prolific seed production can build up a seed bank of massive proportions.
Purple loosestrife seed germinates in such high densities that it outcompetes native seedlings. The buildup of debris around the roots enable loosestrife to invade deeper water and to form dense stands that shade out other emergents and push out floating vegetation by closing open water spaces."

The National Parks service ..."ECOLOGICAL THREAT: Purple loosestrife adapts readily to natural and disturbed wetlands. As it establishes and expands, it outcompetes and replaces native grasses, sedges, and other flowering plants that provide a higher quality source of nutrition for wildlife. The highly invasive nature of purple loosestrife allows it to form dense, homogeneous stands that restrict native wetland plant species, including some federally endangered orchids, and reduce habitat for waterfowl. A mature plant may have as many as thirty flowering stems capable of producing an estimated two to three million, minute seeds per year.
Purple loosestrife also readily reproduces vegetatively through underground stems at a rate of about one foot per year. Many new stems may emerge vegetatively from a single rootstock of the previous year. "Guaranteed sterile" cultivars of purple loosestrife are actually highly fertile and able to cross freely with purple loosestrife and with other native Lythrum species. Therefore, outside of its native range, purple loosestrife of any form should be avoided."

Cornel University..."One mature plant can produce more than 2 million seeds annually. Seeds are easily dispersed by water and in mud adhered to aquatic wildlife, livestock and people. High temperatures (>20C) and open, moist soils are required for successful germination and seedling densities can approach 10,000-20,000 plants/m2."

The science is irrefutable. And it is allready prohibited in 29 states thus far. There is certainly nothing controversial about the damage it causes when allowed to establish.

You can choose believe it or not. However, imo it would be foolhardy to sit back and watch as this becomes established in your neighborhood...

I'm convinced not all the varities present the problem. I have numerous purple loosestrife plants in my garden .. have had them 10 years. None of them have ever spread. Today the only purple loosestrife plants I have are the ones I've planted.

I have divided them and shared them with family members and friends who have had the same experience ... not invasive at all .. in fact well behaved.

They are now illeagal in Va also ... so mine are cherished.

It's not the spreading of these plants in your garden that causes the harm. It's the spread of their seeds and pollen that is causing the loss of the biological diversity and health of wetlands in your state. That is why it is illegal to sell them in VA. Any gardener that cares about their natural world should not be growing this plant in states where it is shown to be a problem. It is easy to find wonderful garden substitutes for this plant, flowers that do not create the environmental problems this one does.

JAYK, Thank you for addressing the seed and pollen spread issues associated with this ecological nightmare of a plant.

I am somewhat dismayed with all the scientific evidence out there that people are still espousing the aesthetics of this plant with so many responsible alternatives out there. Incredible.

As far as bees, I have the classic humble Bumble Bees as well as Italian Honeybees and Mason bees and they not only survive here but they are thriving on alternate pollen sources so I beg to differ with anyone who touts the benefits of a long nectar flow as if no other plants exist with this characteristic.

You know... we're missing the obvious. This is the weeds forum and the original poster asked where he/she could buy PL??? Odd choice to request this plant given it is illegal in so many states and has attained the status of one of the most noxious weed nationwide. I suppose if people don't see those seeds escaping into other areas that it surely must not be happening and is nothing more than a figment of the imaginations of some environmental whackos.

Thanks, JAYK and Laura. I have been astonished at the continued planting of this bad actor. Its ability to produce seed is outstanding. At 2.7 million tiny, pepper-like seeds per plant, I can't understand how anyone can be so assured that all 2.7 million stayed right in their back yard and never germinated.

I have seen cultivars here on sale at places that I hope would know better (ok Mahoney's). I guessed they were non-invasive cultivars. Some say they could revert so still stay away. I have to admit I had a volunteer in my garden this year and I did not weed it out (I am a real softie when it comes to weeding, pinching, thinning). I do understand that it is choking out native plants but this summer I went to the Cape and in a really beautiful spot there were white horses with purple loostrife growing in a marshy area behind. It was breathtaking. I think this is the problem with this plant (or maybe with the people it bewitches)

i have seen cultivars sold that are supposedly sterile. but i have a friend who is a master gardener who said that her experience with sterile perrenials is that eventually they do reproduce, but not in the first few years.

anyone looking to actually propogate purple loosestrife can come to East Peoria, Illinois. its growing rampantly in every drainage ditch and wetland along the state highway and is taking over some very unique wetland areas that are home to endangered plant species. feel free to come and get it. but if you do, make sure you get it all ;-)

i am also very annoyed by people when they are told that a plant is invasive and they have this response: "it cant be invasive, as i grow it in my yard and i have never had a seedling in my yard." duh... have you looked in the woodland or wetland down the street? have you walked in a local natural area? have you seen this plant growing someplace where its doubtful someone propogated it on purpose? most people are just not aware. that is why we need to rely wildlife biologists and botantists to help us determine which plants are problematic.

joepyeweed says, "that is why we need to rely wildlife biologists and botantists to help us determine which plants are problematic."

Thank you joepyeweed, you just made my day!
8^)

i am neither a wildlife biologist or botantist but i rely on those types of people in my work and in my recreational activities. i have learned alot from them.

very pretty as in....The Devil in diguise!!! did you know the usa as nation spends more $$$$ on noxious weed control than we do on natural disaters?(hurricane,tornado, etc) we are pretty dry up here in SE montana however if i planted it and it seeded into the irrigation ditch that runs by my house i would be in sooooo much trouble. Some of the nurseries still sell it here!!! It is very hardy, which also means "hard to Kill".

(((((duh... have you looked in the woodland or wetland down the street? have you walked in a local natural area? have you seen this plant growing someplace where its doubtful someone propogated it on purpose? most people are just not aware.)))))

thank you, joepye... you said that much better than I would have...

I'd have been tempted to snap a collar on the offended, and walk them down to the nearest low-lying area, and let them SEE where the seeds have wound up...

and notice how many critters have had to move because unlike cattails, the loosestrife's got the nutritional value of wonder bread, and not even the japanese beetles will eat it.

pretty plant, I always save the flowering heads of the plants I pull up for papermaking and potpourri- but I bake the life out of it, first.

I have a 3-acre wetland in the back of my property. I've lived here for 2 years. The first year, I thought these purple flowering plants were beautiful. They covered maybe 10% of the shoreline, sharing with cat-tails and other stuff. I thought nothing about it.

Since last year they've spread towards the center of the wetland about 10 feet from the shore. It has overtaken a lot of the reeds and cat-tails and covers maybe 20% of the shoreline as well- in one year! We (three neighbors) started to get concerned so we asked a landscaper about it.

He wasn't an expert but advised to investigate organic control (beetles), pesticides (Rodeo or Roundup) or cutting it below the water line and pulling it out. We are going to try the latter since its a relatively early stage. I contacted Hudsonia - a research group in the Hudson Valley, and they are going to track our contol efforts for their research.

This stuff spreads very fast in the right condition. It has a thick woody stem (the ducks cannot live in it like in the reeds). My advice is to get rid of this as quickly as you can. This is an invasive plant with no natural "enemies".

Anyone who doesn't think that purple loosestrife is bad need only drive along Rte 93 north out of Boston and on up through New Hampshire or Rte 95 thru Maine. Or you can see it along the Mass turnpike and 495 around Boston. And yes...all over The Cape. Loosestrife is rampant in New England in wetland areas. It's "breathtaking" because where there's one plant, before long you'll have one million plants! A million dandelions would be breathtaking too but I don't want them in my yard!

Do you really want to be responsible for introducing such a troublesome weed into your region of the world?

Well if they spent the time & money on erradicating wild parsnip (poison parsnip) or Eurasian milfoil or the blue-green algae that killed my dear sweet dog that they do on denigrating & legislating against loosestrife, the resources would be better spent.

I've read professional opinion that states that the long-range impact of loosestrife is unknown, so I'm highly skeptical of claims about its harmful nature.

We transplanted several loosestrife plants to our 1/4th acre swampy area well over a decade ago, and it has coexisted peacefully with the native cattails all this time. Although the purple blooms have proliferated, loosestrife has not overrun the cattails, not turned the swamp into solid ground by eliminating standing pools, nor has it inhibited the multitudes of seasonal birds that feed there.

The only change was an aesthetic one - our swamp is a lovely purple garden in late summer.

When agricultural/conservation workers come help with the annual brush clearing of 6 foot tall butt-ugly overbearing poison parsnips in our pasture, suffer some of the massive skin blisters these plants can cause, and help foot the bill for our $2000 brush clearing machinery, then they can preach to us about the supposed ills of our purple flowers.

spedigrees, it is your fellow gardeners who are preaching - people who love flowers and plants and the land as much as you do. Why not hear them out?

I am as sorry as I can be that you have a serious parsnip problem. I've never had this weed but it sounds like a real nightmare (what is its latin name? I'd like to look it up and see what it's about). Still, though lythrum may not be the worst offender on your property, it is still worth getting rid of, if you can. It CAN choke out everything else, it CAN end up filling in wet areas, it CAN become a a bad dream, colored purple.

I've seen it at work and it is very depressing.

In our area the wetlands were being taken over at an alarming rate. So much so that groups of volunteers would spend their weekends pulling the loosestrife out of the water and bagging them to be burned rather than buried in a landfill. Each stalk can have more than a thousand seeds, and those seeds sprout quickly. Birds feeding on the seeds leave their droppings wherever they do their job, therein causing new plants to grow in great abundance far from the original plants.

It is doubtful if any invasive weed can be erraticated once it is well established in the wild.

Whether a person grows it in his or her yard is not important in that case.

In most states it is not illegal to grow it, only to sell it.

I am surprised to see that no one has mentioned that throughout most of the range of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) there occurs a native loosestrife known as winged loosestrife (Lythrum alatum).

The native winged loosestrife (Lythrum alatum) has many of the same benefits as the invasive purple loosestrife, such as ornamental flowers and prodigous nectar production, but it has none of the negatives (aggressive weediness and invasive tendencies).

Obviously, the question of the beauty of purple loosestrife is highly subjective and I find it to be a common, vulgar, and garish plant. For color in a sunny moist area, I would plant a mix of native wetland plants such as lobelias, helenium, native irises, winged loosestrife, stachys (hedge nettles), certain asters, and certain bidens and coreopsis species. To round out the planting, I would add shrubs that like wet soil such as buttonbush, dwarf shrubby willows, clethra, and certain hollies.

So if I cut all of the flowers before it goes to seed then how can it spread by seed???

Kim,

If you cut off all the flowers, then it may not spread by seeds unless this is one of those plants which (and there are some which do this) continues to live for a bit so as to produce it's seeds. Somewhat a survival of the fittest thing... I'm not sure if PL does this.

In placing such a plant in your garden, you also have to consider whether you will be here tomorrow to make sure the flower does not go to seed...