Lythrum salicaria Seeds | Purple Loosestrife
LATIN NAME: Lythrum salicaria
COMMON NAME: Purple Loosestrife
Plant Profile
Lythrum salicaria, better known as Purple Loosestrife, is a perennial. Purple loosestrife is a fine, tall, purple-spiked plant of wet meadows and pond-sides, and its long, dense spikes of small, magenta-purple flowers have made it one of great waterside plants for a very long time. Plant is a fine, generous, long-flowering perennial of moist, open ground. It is a plant of wet, rich ground. Its flowers draw a steady traffic of bees and other beneficial insects. Plants that offer this much while asking this little are rare enough to treasure.
Science & Biotechnology
Within the Lythrum group, Lythrum salicaria is of continuing interest to researchers working on plant diversity, seed biology and the selection of improved garden forms. Purple loosestrife has a steady and well-documented place in plant science, and plant has been studied for its long, dense spikes of magenta-purple flowers and its place among waterside perennials. Gardeners benefit directly from its long cultivation: what the plant will do in a garden is well understood.
Uses & Benefits
Gardeners value Purple Loosestrife for its ornamental character, and the plant also fits naturally into herb, vegetable and cutting gardens. Purple loosestrife is grown for long, dense spikes of magenta-purple flowers. Plant is a fine, generous addition to wet border, pond-side and rain garden. It spreads freely in rich, wet ground, so it is best kept to its own moist corner. Given the right start, it carries on with minimal intervention.
Purple loosestrife is a showy but invasive wetland plant in North America; in its native Europe it had folk astringent use, and today it is best enjoyed where it is welcome.
Growing from Seed
Purple Loosestrife is one of those generous plants that come along well from seed. Sow evenly over the surface and cover lightly into a loose, well-drained seed compost, water in gently, and keep the sowing in bright light with steady moisture. Shift the seedlings into small pots as soon as they can be handled, and give them bright light until planting-out time.
Our Take
The medicinal tradition behind this species, outlined above, is a large part of its interest. Given the right start, Purple Loosestrife is a long-term garden companion. Keep the sowing evenly moist at the start — that is the one real requirement.
Related Reading
Gardeners who grow Purple Loosestrife often pair it with these related subjects: