Loosestrife

MRS Heron from Stockton says her neighbours told her they had bought and planted a perennial called loosestrife in their garden. This concerned her because, while visiting her niece in America, Mrs Heron was made aware that there is a big problem with loosestrife taking over and strangling wildlife reserves. Mrs Heron wants to know if there is a risk it might invade her own garden.

THERE are several plants that respond to the name loosestrife.

The first one that springs to mind is the yellow loosestrife (lysimachia.

vulgaris), with spikes of yellow flowers.

The striking purple loosestrife (lythrum saclicaria) belongs to a different family.

The name loosestrife is medieval and derives from the belief the plant would appease “the strife and unruliness which falleth out among oxen at the plough, if it be put about their yokes”.

The yellow loosestrife, also known as the circle flower, grows up to 3ft high.

Its upright growth pattern with whorled leaves, provides a good solid mass of green throughout the season. Unlike some of its relatives, it does not have an in-built inclination to take over the garden borders.

Other plants in the lysimacia family include lysimachia ciliata Purpurea or Firecracker which is a herbaceous perennial with deep purple, lanceshaped leaves. In summer, it bears clusters of yellow, nodding, star-shaped flowers on upright, leafy stems. It does tend to wander all over the border, though, so may have to be watched carefully. It certainly won’t invade and strangle Mrs Heron’s garden.

Lysimachia nummularia or Creeping Jenny, a low-growing creeper, is a member of the primrose family, and it is found in damp grassy places away from bright sunlight. The first yellow flowers of Creeping Jenny appear in May, and blooming usually continues until mid-August.

Purple loosestrife on the other hand does not belong to the lysimachia family, and is formally called lythrum salicaria. It is a very hardy perennial which, given the right growing conditions, can rapidly take over habitats. An estimated 190,000 hectares of wetlands, marshes, pastures and meadows are affected in North America each year, with an economic impact of millions of dollars.

No wonder it is classed as a destructive weed in America. Here, it is not such a great problem, but it’s not one that you would really want to have growing as a border plant. You certainly would not find any for sale in a garden centre, so I wouldn’t worry that the next door neighbours have bought this as a commercial product.

Jobs this week

■ Cut gladioli flowers for use indoors, leaving some foliage on the plants so that they can build up food reserves for next year.

■ Give liquid tomato feed to lateflowering clematis every two weeks.

Water weekly in hot weather.

■ Flower borders need not look bedraggled at this time of year. Go through the beds picking off decaying leaves and dead-head any spent flowers.

Brigid presents the BBC Tees Gardening show on Sundays from 1pm to 2pm.

Questions can be answered on the day by emailing brigidpress@bbc.co.uk anytime during the week, or texting 07786-200995 and phoning 01642-225511 during the show.