A friend of mine manages a small garden center locally. This winter she is closing it down completely to give the place a good clean – and wanted to sell off the few remaining plants before this happened. Always one to help out a friend – I thought I had better go shopping.
I got – 7 small cannas, 2 hostas (Pacific Blue), Sarcocca confusa (Sweet box), Malva “Park Rindell” – which is a rather excellent bright pink. Some ivy for another friend and the three tall perennials at the back of the picture – which may be my shopping mistake!
I had seen them earlier in the year at the garden center – and they are a tall slender sort of plant – which will give a bit of height to the border. I got them because I thought they would provide a good infilling clump of height in the summer probably for the bog garden. They are called “Lythrum Salicaria Mordern Pink”
Yes – that’s right – a member of the loosestrife family. I did a quick check on the Internet – as the plant label had no sun/shade preferences and could only find a few references to it – but the most worrisome was here – on a page called “12 plants to avoid at all costs”.
So if anyone in the UK has ever grown it – please let me know!
Backlit Sambucus nigra “Black Beauty”
Oh dear Karen. What have you gone and done? No I don’t want it thank you. Now, if any of the others need a home in a wet and shady garden, I may be able to help! Is there anyone who has particularly upset you lately that you could give them to? (Only joking).
Well I dind’t think it was that bad – lets see what everyone else says.
Karen
The word invasive does seem to feature a lot in the descriptions
Perhaps try it somewhere dryer and see how it does.
Sarcococca is a joy – wonderful fragrance from such tiny flowers.
BTW I notice your site looks different in Blotanical
I think that is because Blotanical is now reading feeds from my new site – I switched to-day.
Yes I am very ecited about the Sarcocca – it has been on my must buy list for a couple of years now – I am not sure of the exact location – but I expect near the path to my studio for winter fragrance or may be …. Oh I don’t know!
Errr – dryer and Artist’s Garden are not words that go in the same sentence
Thanks for dropping in
Karen
Hi Karen
I’ve grown one for a couple of years which I bought at the Tatton show. It is really pretty, flowers late (September) and has just dropped its last leaves which turned a lovely red. It
hasn’t invaded anywhere in my garden (yet) although it is on dryish chalk. Come to think of it I did move it into a pot last winter as I wanted to put something else where it was planted – and then I spent this summer wondering what the hell I had put in the pot and why. I eventually moved it back into the border but it doesn’t look anything much until it flowers.
Phew Arabella – you have set my mind at ease a little bit – I had visions of it taking over the whole neighborhood – like Japanese Knotweed is trying to do here about.
Thanks for letting me know your experience it is pretty – that’s what I thought when I saw it in the garden center a little while ago.
Karen
This article is really interesting, I have a garden full of ivy, rather a pest, but the wildlife loves it. As for Lythrum Salicaria, I have one called Robert which is a lovely shade of cerise. I have mine in a large pot and it looks lovely through the summer months, I keep the soil moist. There are no signs of mine self-seeding around the garden, and I have had it for years. Hope this helps. x