Tuesday, November 6, 2007

A Fall Beauty

Japanese Blood Grass
(unfortunately I called it Japanese Bloodroot earlier, and I was wrong. Sorry!)
Actually, you get to enjoy this color all year... but it surely fits in with Autumn!
This plant is on the invasive side... but, if you like it like I do,
give it strict confines and it'll do very well.

I transplanted this little fellow two summers ago. It is in a very small bed with edging (and the driveway) on one side, a small pond on the other, and rocks all around it everywhere else.

If you notice plants with green stems (and no red tips) in the mix, those plants have reverted to the wild state. They are "dig-able."

Japanese Blood Grass is considered to be a very deep-rooted sedge that is difficult to control. It has also been placed on the noxious weeds list in many states. Like the purple loosestrife (lythrum salicaria) that has been unsaleable in so many states, the Mississippi Bureau of Plant Industry put a stop to the sale of Japanese Blood Grass four to five years ago.

Oh, well. (I also loved Purple Lythrum in my former garden. It never did spread outside its boundaries, even after 6 years!)

Perhaps it is I that deserves the name "Shady" instead of my garden... for not only enjoying, but propagating, those notorious plants on the "Wanted" Posters!


2 comments:

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Forbidden fruit? I've never grown Japanese bloodgrass- it's a beut! The problem with Lythrum salicaria is not with runners, but with the seed. You're much better off without that 1. Is Japanese bloodgrass invasive in colder zones?

Shady Gardener said...

I used to be in Zone 4(b) and now am listed in Zone 5(a). (SE Iowa)

In my gardens it has been only a little aggressive, but certainly controllable. Just keep tabs on it. You wouldn't want to put it where it would get into the lawn or into an area you don't want to disturb.

I once had it in a small bed near a clump of penstemon. Over a three year period or so, I let it creep too far and had to dig into both plants. But it wasn't serious.