PlantFiles: Soapwort, Bouncing Bet, Goodbye Summer
Saponaria officinalis

It was a pretty plant at first, but after the first year it would not stand up and started sprawling in all directions. Not only that, but it put out underground runners which are murder to get rid of. If you buy this plant, be sure to keep it contained in a pot so it won't escape and take over your garden.

I won this plant at a plant society. The variety was dazzler with yellow striped leaf. It had all but reverted to the original green as I planted it. Since then it has tried to take over my Garden (England). If anyone wanted it you could send me your address and within a very short time it would grow to you! I have tried pulling it up, unsucessful, then spraying it for another year, unsucessful, then I tried wax poison on each leaf another year. I then tried mixing systemic weedkiller with wallpaper paste so I could paint it onto each leaf, you have probably guessed it - unsucessful. This year I have moved every plant out of a border and sprayed again as it has appeared. This has now gone on for over six months. Today I have been double digging in manure to replant, and I have picked out over two buckets of still live roots. Now I don't know whether to plant or not. Please, please could someone advise me on how to eradicate this weed.

Absolutely love the pretty, pale-pink tinge to these white 'Evening Primrose'-like flowers. For years I didn't know what this plant was, so I am very happy that my post at Garden Gossip on Facebook... [HYPERLINK@www.facebook.com] struck a memory chord with one of my readers. That led me to Dave's Garden for more information ~ thanks, Dave! All of the readers' comments here have been extremely helpful, even though I already knew this plant can be extremely invasive. Albeit so, I still love the color and the mass planting drift of it that I now have in an out of the way area of my "yarden". It helps to divide sections of an old Children's Veggie Garden, currently under renovation. Still, knowing what I do now, I don't feel bad in ripping out what I don't want anymore. For instance, it did spread into my patio area, where my two dogs primarily live. We haven't had any issues of them digesting it, but it is certainly good to know I should watch out for that! This spring, I renovated this patio area with landscape fabric and created a pretty, new courtyard with pea stone walkways, a center focal point garden and two new border gardens. Just to give you an idea, as to how tough and persistent this plant can be, those overlooked pieces of roots someone else mentioned, are now growing 'Soapwort' back up through the black, porous landscape fabric and a two-inch, thick layer of pea stone! So, although I've learned some neat plant history here, and how I'll forever have a gardening chore on my hands, I choose to be more positive and say, "Now it's time for me to go smell the 'Soapwort' flowers!" Happy Gardening! ~ AFS, Garden Gossip

The flowers are OK, but the plant is too invasive for me, so I took it out.

Cut flowers they work well for that I'm trying an experiment with using it as a soap alternative this would be a great use and a help to get it out of a garden where its not wanted

I have lots of soapwort and can not get rid of it. It's very invasive. I'd like to know how to get rid of it as it has taken over the entire flower bed. If you want some-let me know and I will send it to you.

zone 4a hardy - like below, tough to get rid of, also have weak stems and loves to flop over.

This can be a wonderful plant but you have to watch it. I put it near other assetive plants, in my case the white version, which is stunning, next to well established myrica pennsylvanica (northern bayberries) and anemone x hybrida 'Honorine Jobert', and they fight to a draw. I also use the pink version in my peony beds but once a month I go out with a shovel and cut around it in a circular pattern to sever creepers. It has a great scent, and if you cut it back it blooms repeatedly, but you cannot plant it and forget it.

This plant was well established when we moved here. I can't get rid of it. When pulled or dug, there are always root pieces that start new plants, and since I don't use herbicides, I can only hope to keep the population down to reasonable levels. It is pretty but I would never plant it on purpose.

I PLANTED SIX SOAPWORT PLANTS LAST SUMMER, 2006, AND OF THIS DATE, JULY 7--07, ONLY TWO BLOOMED. WHAT COULD BE THE REASON? THEY ARE ALL IN A ROW ALONG A BORDER. THANKS.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that the flowers of Bouncing Bet are so fragrant! All the descriptions of problems are true -- and then some! -- but I put up with them all for the long bloom time (a month or more here in southern MN) and lovely scent. If I deadhead after blooming, they'll sometimes rebloom -- and that helps with the sprawling and burning problems as well. They ARE invasive. Plant them only where you don't mind them taking over... Mine are near the mailbox (where I can smell them every time I stop for the mail) surrounded by lawn. They try to pop up in the lawn but are easy to pull. They've also come up in the gravel road, which I actually don't mind so much!

Very invasive, almost impossible to eradicate when growing among things you don't want to remove.

Good cut flower.

Very permanent: new plants grow from sections of root left in soil.

Tolerates poor conditions. Two are thriving under a maple tree. To cover up the flat center, either plant several together or surround with plants that will cover that up.

I tried full sun in Atlanta and it burned - I moved it to a bit more shade and now it sprawls out leaving the center of the plant flat and unattractive. I've tried to "fluff it up" but it does not stay. I'll give it a while more before I pull it out.

This is an old time cottage flower; it likes full sun for best growth. Pink flowers appear early summer to early fall. As the name implies, a lather can be produced from the foliage of this plant.

The name Bouncing Bet is an old fashioned name for a wash woman. Plant is mildly toxic (although used in Germany to give beer a foamier head.)