As we’ve been enduring endless weeks of cool, rainy weather, my mind has been turning to plants that like the wet. That’s why Loosestrife jumped out at me.
The name Loosestrife has been used for 2 distinct genera, Lysimachia and Lythrum, ever since the 16th Century botanist William Turner used the word. He based it on a reference by Pliny in the first century CE, when he had said that both genera could deliver you from strife. Lythrum was so powerful “that if placed on the yoke of inharmonious oxen it will restrain their quarrelling.”
These mighty plants are more wilful than bad-tempered oxen and given damp, wet or boggy conditions, our native species will spread all too readily. Species of both genera are native to Scotland and you can find them in damp and soggy places. You’ll often find Lysimachia vulgaris, yellow loosestrife, growing vigorously in roadside ditches, so ca’ canny if you buy any native species and only plant where you can let it spread freely.
But if you do have space one species that’s largely restricted to the western central belt would be a good bet. L. thyrsiflora, tufted loosestrife, is a much more delicate looking plant than many of its coarser relatives. It grows in shallow, still water in permanently wet places. The fluffy yellow flowers grow attractively in the angles of the long pointed leaves.
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Unlike Lysimachia, the other loosestrife, Lythrum, has purple flowers. Our Scottish species, L. salicaria is kept under control by a host of herbivores, beetles, weevils and the caterpillars of some moths, but it has become a nightmare in some parts of the US.
Luckily there are several more controllable domestic cultivars that have been developed from south east European Lysimachia atropurpurea. Growing to between 60 cm and a metre, they have tiny burgundy-coloured blooms, densely packed in flower spikes. L. clethroides has white flowers. Drooping as they begin to open, the flower spikes become partially upright with the tip arching over.
Creeping Lysimachias grow quite differently. Creeping Jenny, L. nummularia, has yellow bell shaped flowers while L. nemorum, yellow pimpernel, has star shaped flowers. Both will creep further than you might wish but you can corral them in a damp hanging basket.
I’ve got a pretty damp little bed in the yard. It’s almost as if half the hillside drains into it, so this is the perfect spot for the more garden friendly Lythrum salicaria ‘Blush’. It forms a fine clump with tall spikes crammed with a mass of tiny purple flowers. Perfect for an otherwise tough bed.
Plant of the week
Runner Bean ‘Firestorm’ has the traditional scarlet flowers that brighten up the veg patch. It is said to be completely self fertile so will set beans even in high temperatures or poor weather.
The beans are stringless and tender and slightly thicker than some other varieties.
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