Some plants never live up to their catalogue descriptions.
Never mind their growth habits or cultural needs, they simply fail to live up to the gushing prose that purports to describe what they actually, physically look like.
This is my first year growing Lysimachia atropurpurea, and knowing nothing about its length of bloom time or how it will tolerate summer heat or a soil on the dryish side, or too much shade or sun; whether it flops or runs at the root or performs more like an annual than a perennial in zone 10’s relatively dormancy-free winter —
Apart from all that, I can safely say that, visually, this plant is every inch the knockout it’s reputed to be.
Will those silvery leaves quickly turn a drab green? Will budworms deform that luscious, berry-colored flower spike?
Like the first date, sometimes it’s kinda nice not to know, when just raw attraction is enough.
Hello, beautiful.
(Stern report on growth and cultural habits to follow as the season progresses.)
Burgundy Gooseneck Loosestrife, alleged long bloomer, June through August or May through September depending on source. Allegedly deer resistant. To 2 feet. Full sun/part shade. Zone 4 to 10. Average water. Comes true from seed. Hummingbird’s delight. Makes a good cut flower. Makes your children smarter. Will bring you boundless good luck, etc., etc..
Stern report expected! I’m afraid of Lysimachia but yours looks slightly less rampant than the common white of my nightmares. There IS something very fetching about those arching blossom heads.
Hi~~ Years ago I grew this. Favoring the pinks and reds, I loved its color and unusual form. However it didn’t winter over in my Zone 8b garden. Frankly I forgot about it until seeing it last year at a nursery. I bought two-four inch pots. They performed well except a wee bit floppy as the plumes aged. Again, death by chill. Like all Lysimachias it prefers moist soil which I found out the hard way as I constantly apologized for letting the poor things go thirsty. So, this year’s plants are going into moist soil in a morning sun, afternoon shade site. The foliage stays the silvery green color and all in all I’d give the plant an 8 on a scale of one to ten. But, this is just my opinion and you know how subjective we all are about our plants. Good luck with yours.
That’s good news, Grace. I’ll take an 8 out of 10. And I’ve got the morning sun/afternoon shade and will watch the moisture.
Can anyone tell me how to deadhead this plant? I got a great flush of tall deep butgundy blooms that looked like they were about 2 feet long! After the flowers faded it looked like there were buds just below so I snipped them off just above the buds. Now those buds are fully grown and maybe 2 inches long, if that. Should I have cut them back to the ground instead? Thanks so much for any assistance.