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Purple Loose-strife No flowering plant in the Northeast has caused as much concern as the European, marsh-loving Purple-Loose-strife. Crowding out other wetland species with its tenacious root system, Purple Loose-strife is changing the face of many of our freshwater marshes, by turning them into biologically unproductive monocultures. The sometimes vast magenta flowerbeds attract bees and butterflies to their blossoms, but offer no sustenance to higher life-forms. Efforts to control the species by pulling it up have been fruitless. Introducing European beetles that feed exclusively on this plant may prove the best defense.. --from the EPA's website Check out some great gardening alternatives to this plant. |