might i suggest.. that if you had to ask...

you already know the answer ...

and some are true invasives in some places ...

GET RID OF IT ...

what.. you cant find something better????

ken

Good point, Ken! I just got sort of attached to their lovely nodding heads.. lol. And I confess I like finding other uses for useless things... probably a mental illness of sorts.

Pam, I completely understand your dilemma. I too hate to get rid of things, even in the garden, and this really is a pretty plant.

I have a friend who grows the most God-awful invasive stuff and it is ALL very well-behaved for her. She grows the GL, which I love to cut and use in bouquets; she grows bishop's weed, which has never ventured past the giant old oak tree which it encircles; she grows Chinese Lanterns, which again we use in fall bouquets, and which has never spread past the bed along her house. And there's more. I don't know how she does it.

Can you put a clump in a pot and grow it on the patio? And get rid of the rest? This way you will have a bit to enjoy without it taking over.

Dee

My neighbor has a large patch of GL that I warned him soon after first moving here 8 years ago is invasive (according to our CT website) but he refused to eradicate it based on the lovely blooms. I must agree the blooms are attractive in form but I still was on guard to fight. I've never yet found even a trace the plants have either traveled or self-seeded in my own garden.

That said, I have a gardening friend in Illinois who tried every method of eradicating it in her own garden and has had zero success. Even my perennial plant guidebooks caution that it can be invasive. Seems as though once it's established, it's not going anywhere.

I have had gooseneck in a pot sunk in my garden for several years. Think I need to dig it up and move to a larger pot this year. I love the blooms and am diligent about deadheading so there are no seedlings.

Before finding a new spot I'd see if I could actually get rid of it from the first location.... I'm pretty relentless when I set my mind to getting rid of something invasive, and this was one that really put up a fight!

"I have had gooseneck in a pot sunk in my garden for several years. Think I need to dig it up and move to a larger pot this year."

I had this plant in a sunken pot for a few years. Then it escaped, and now I have the job of rooting out the sprouts that are threatening to engulf neighboring perennials.

KILL IT NOW!!!

I do not want to kill it. Maybe I will put it in a wooden barrel to give it room to expand and to keep it contained. Hmm, what other wandering plant can share that barrel?

Thanks for the warning, Eric. Hope I don't regret my choice in a few years.

There are noninvasive GL plants.

Thanks for the responses, everyone. Dee, that's a good idea, I will save and contain a nice clump! The process has begun! cutting, roundup and digging...

I have a couple of invasive plants growing in chimney tiles, the square fired clay type. The bottom is sunk 8"-12" down, and the plant is planted in soil in the tile that is about 1 1/2 feet above the rest of the garden. In the 6 or more years of using this raised planter technique none of the plants have escaped. I got my tiles as cutoffs or damaged pieces from a mason.

I also have used regular planters, but have raised the planter up on thick pavers so that the roots can't escape through the drainage holes. Perhaps one of these techniques will work for you.

Just FYO about trying a non-invasive variety of the white gooseneck loosestrife. I tried one of these new hybrids several years ago. It was nice enough, but did not have the charm of the old original. The flowers were sort of chubby and bunched on the stems. I grew it for a few years and then discarded it.