Does anyone here grow white lysimachias? Could do with some advice!

Hi All,

I'm trying to grow Lysimachia clethroides (Gooseneck Loosestrife) and Lysimachia ephemerum (Willow-leaved Loosestrife). These are the plants in my new border I'm most concerned about. Last year the clethroides looked lovely for about 3 weeks, then seemed to suddenly go red, look singed and sort of fell apart! I'm seeing slight signs of the redness again and really fear a repeat of last year's pathetic performance! With the ephemerum, I haven't seen it flower before and simply don't know what to think, TBH. Foliage emerged in late Winter/early Spring and has been a nice deep green for many weeks but is now going a reddish brown!

Lysimachia clethroides | gooseneck loosestrife Herbaceous Perennial/RHS Gardening

Lysimachia ephemerum | willow-leaved loosestrife Herbaceous Perennial/RHS Gardening

The peculiar thing is that they are both classed as favouring moist but well-drained or simply poorly-drained soil by the RHS. Well, the ephemerum especially is virtually in the same soil mix as many serious moisture-lovers in the same border like Eupatorium cannabinum, Lythrum salicaria etc and those are thriving! Wondering if it's simply the intensity of the sun on the South-facing border? Perhaps planting the clethroides further back next year might help as the soil will stay damper, since the plants at the front will help shade it?

Any advice or suggestions appreciated,

Thanks,

Nick

 

Redness of the leaves is often a sign of stress so maybe planting them in a different position would help.
Also sometimes plants don't do well if there's a problem at the roots causing the plant not to grow properly so maybe you could check this.

These are only suggestions and what I would do if they were in my garden.

 

Not a plant I know anything about but my suggestion is check the ph is ok

Is it a plant for acid or alkaline soil.

 

Thanks Michael and Pete,

I'm a bit suspicious of the clethroides as it has never seemed quite right in terms of health and I got it from a nursery I very rarely use. The leaves are supposed to go red, but not until Autumn, so that seems indicative of heat stress to me! Michael, your point about roots made me think of something I read recently, apparently they are rhizomatous and eventually establish deep in the ground. It makes me wonder if they might still be at an earlier, shallower stage in their development. I also just came across a mention of mulching these in Spring and that might be a way to cushion the impact of strong heat on the roots.

Pete, I haven't come across anything mentioning specific soil acidity or alkalinity, they seem versatile plants in that way. Almost tempted to buy a 1 litre pot specimen of the Gooseneck from a better nursery at this stage and pop it in a part shade area, I sometimes come across plants that mention full sun on websites but what they really mean is full sun in pretty much boggy soil conditions!

It's hard to know with the second one (ephemerum) if it's just a case of plant 'growing pains', I only planted it in Autumn as a 9cm pot plant and so many of these native/wildlife-friendly plants can look a bit pathetic or even a right mess in their first year of growth...

Nick

 

@shiney Yes, I think 'Firecracker' is rather pretty, but I was put off it for life when a garden my friend tends developed a huge colony of it after a period of neglect, the colony was nearly the same size as my entire front garden!

I also let Lysimachia vulgaris (the yellow one) do its own thing in my back garden for a while, big mistake! It seems to grow back from the smallest bit of root and took me about two years to completely eradicate!

From what I've read about these two, they can be slightly invasive in the right soil, but nowhere near as invasive as ciliata! I'm surprised no-one else here seems to grow Gooseneck Loosestrife because quite a few British nurseries offer it!

Nick

 

I'd probably put it down to moister levels especially as it occurred over time from early spring to now unless you've had a sudden drop in temperature over night which has upset it. I'd whip it out and dig in lots of organic matter replant and give it a good drink.

I've come across a few plant recently saying they require more a less a bog if sited in full sun. I've looked at it a few Gooseneck a few times but they is quite a lot of plants with white spikes , maybe I'll get tempted sooner or later

 

L. clethroides turned out to be a bit of a thug here on my dry sandy well-drained soil. I think there's still some left despite my efforts to hoik it out when I see it. I didn't know it was supposed to prefer damp, and I hate to think what it would be like in conditions that are ideal for it. Then again, one person's thuggy plant is another's "good do-er".

 

L. clethroides grows in our acid clay, too well. Easier to pull out than Firecracker which is a to be avoided thug of the worst kind.
The former roots along the surface here rather than at depth.

 

I grew clethroides in my Belgian garden - deep, fertile, alkaline loam with plenty of rain and very cold winters. It spread very happily and flowered for weeks.

It doesn't grow here, even in fertile neutral loam. i reckon it doesn't like heat and drought;

 

I see the white L. clethroides in 2 gardens I pass when out. Both in almost total shade -north facing and too near the houses to get any great amount of sun, cooler wet climate, clay soil. Both always look good.
I'm always considering growing it.

 

Sounds like the problem is that they're in that south-facing border and getting too hot, thanks everyone, will try them in a shadier spot this year!

Nick