PlantFiles: Gooseneck Loosestrife
Lysimachia clethroides

Loosestrife multiplies by runners under the soil, and can become invasive. If you don't want gooseneck's taking over your garden, you can plant them in a large pot and sink it into the ground, or plant in a large raise bed. If it becomes necessary to control plants spread, you can dig out excessive growth from the edges of the clump. If not kept in bounds it will soon take over and appear everywhere in the garden.

I moved to my current home two years ago. I found a thick circle of Gooseneck growing in my front yard (most of my yard is mature sub-Appalachian forest). The circle is 12-15 ft in diameter, and has 100's of blooms each May-June. The flower stalks are uniquely attractive. It took 2 years to find out what this plant was, until then I called it duckhead, because the bend flower stalks, when in full bloom, look like the profile of a duck's head to me. Gooseneck makes sense too. They have popped up elsewhere, but if I mow them when about 6 inches tall, they are gone for a couple of years. I love it. No maintainence at all, except some watering during southern summer droughts.

This is a case that illustrates my favorite Latin saying: de gustibus non disputandum est - which means "you can't argue about taste." I like it, though I definitely agree about its aggressive qualities! My daughter gave me a few plants several years ago, and I transplanted some to other garden plots. It is going strong in its original setting, and also in several where I transplanted it. It has not crowded out the lilies, tulips, daisies and other flowers in its original site, but it is definitely a strong contender! I guess it's like those who love, and those who hate, mimosas, one of my favorite trees!

I found this plant growing wild along the Little Miami State & National Scenic River. Yet another invasive in the natural environment!

Oh, dear, I have waited too long to control this plant. With the crappy clay soil and rocks in the side yard, it took several years for this to get scary. **Does anyone have a suggestion as to how deep and high a barrier I should put in to stop the spread?? Will the 4" Emerald Edge and future egde control be enough? I am thinking I need a deeper barrier. They look so lovely blooming next to the wild orange daylillies in our side yard. But I am losing the side yard, as the area continues to expand, and even the poor daylillies are straining to hold their ground. So it's excavation time! I decided to let the whole area bloom this month(so pretty), and have offered the cut flowers to a florist friend of mine, because they last so long in the vase. But then I'll try (again) to colonize the steep hill along the road with these, where I want nothing else to grow. The voles and other rodents have eaten the roots there,when I have tried before, but some have survived, so I figure that it is a matter of perserverence. And I have no qualms now about digging out as much as I can. But- can I control the loosetrife that I leave in the side yard with a barrier??

We had several large garden plots placed on a hillside @ 4 years ago. The flowering perennials were almost immediately crowded out by very tall and dominant plants that grow jungle-like, almost an impenetrable block of greenery. I only just found the little tag (in the ground) as to what this pest is: gooseneck loosestrife. Even the tag declares that it's "invasive." !!! It's been 3 years of grunt work trying to eradicate it -- cutting the bamboo-like stalks, pulling plants & digging roots out of the ground, and cleaning up the dead stalks each season's end (otherwise they pile up, year after year. Looks like the Tunguska event!). We were reduced to mowing it all down--gardens gone. This stuff may have looked nice once, but after it gets entrenched, you'll need a flame thrower to tame it. MISERY!

The plant is beautiful, but it is invasive. I am in zone 5b in heavy clay soil. It didn't spread at all the first 2 years. Then it started to spread some, even in heavy clay. It is a great border, just hem it in so it can't spread.

Right now I am going to go with the postive, I have heard it can be invasive but for some reason invasive does not always work in my yard. I had recived this plant from a friend as she was thinning her plants back in May of 2010. I stuck this plant in 2 areas where if it decided to take over and will do well in the shade then so be it.. Go for it is all I can say. I have areas that nothing will grow due to the shade, the only issue will be moist soil, it's not gonna get it as often as it would like. So far the plant has come up tis year and yes there are even more shoots coming up making the grouping a tad bit larger. Once it blooms I will post more info on how tall it got, when it blooms and hopefully get some interesting photos.. She is planning on thinning the plants more this year so I may be adding even more.

On May 13th, 2011, Margarita2 in Cincinnati, OH wrote:

Just to even up the score a bit, I must say that had I read the comments about this plant before I accepted it as a gift from my sister's garden sometime before 2001, I would have tossed it in the compost. As it is, it has been rather neglected in the dry, shady corner of my yard under Rose of Sharon bushes, and edged by grass. It has spread but without being invasive. It droops during very dry weather, but maybe this keeps it more in check. It blooms the same time as the bushes so it is quite striking. I am looking at it with a different eye, however, and will be more vigilant in keeping it confined.

Mine was unattended for many years in full sun, good soil, no extra watering, but is mowed on three sides and has rocks behind it. I recently tried to expand the bed to add something else and it immediately took over. So yes, it's gorgeous, but limit its run!!!

The woman who called it a botanical bully said it best, but let me add my two cents.This plant is extremely invasive and difficult to remove. I had it planted in a dry, sunny spot in rich soil but never watered it. This is in Eastern Massachusetts. Years one and two the plant looked good, but this year it spread so much that I yanked up all of it, or at least I tried to. There are so many beautiful well-behaved plants, and many others that spread, but can be pulled up easily. This one just isn't worth the hassle.

Extremely aggressive in zone 6a. It over runs and kills everything in its path. It is in very dry, shaded soil and it still won't stop! I do like to use the flowers in arrangements.

I tried to contain this by surrounding it with aluminum flashing. (Burying that was QUITE a task as it went down a good 5 or 6 inches!) The loosestrife went over the flashing, under the flashing, THROUGH the flashing! Once I realized that this thing would not be contained, it took me a summer of digging and chemicals but I got rid of it. So be warned! This is Chicago, zone 5, NOT an overly wet site.

I found a large stand of this plant on the edge of my yard when we moved here and have been delighted with it for several years in a row. It blooms profusely and reliably, even in drought, for a full six weeks, and stays green and lush when bloom is done.

But yes, it DOES spread every year! Fortunately whoever originally planted it, planted it in a spot that gets mowed around regularly. Maybe that's the secret to keeping aggressive plants. I am sure that it would have taken over the border long ago if it had been planted there.

To whoever wondered if this plant has been seen as a bush: You may be thinking of Clethera (sometimes called Summersweet - Clethra alnifolia ) It looks a lot like this and that's what I was hoping it was at first. This however is a forb, not a shrub, though the "cletheroides" in the latin name of this Loostrife lets us know that we're not the only ones who see the similarity! Summersweet, however, has a wonderful fragrance and as far as I know is not invasive at all, so if you plan to put this in the border, I'd definitely go for real Clethera instead!

I bought 3 little plants 3 years ago. I came on here and read how invasive it was and immediately dug them up only 2 days after I planted them.

I put them in a large plastic decorative planter (with only 2 small drainage holes). The planter sits in the shade and they do quite well there. Every fall I sink the planter and pull it out in the spring. They have come back every year, stay contained in the planter and brighten an otherwise dark corner of my garden.

Argghhhhhhhh.... I rue the day I ever bought this botanical bully! From just 3 1-gal. plants three years ago, I am ripping it out by the ARMLOADS!!!!!!!! It has taken over my rain garden enveloping hostas, Mrs. Robb's euphorbia and coneflower. It may be good for a VERY LARGE area that you want to naturalize, but definitely does not play well with others! Beautiful plant with lovely blooms if this one plant is ALL you want in your garden.

First and even second growing seasons this plant was a delight. This spring (third year in our gardeen, zone 5, part sun) it has taken over almost 1/2 of the garden, invading daylilies and even bee balm. There are too many other well behaved plants to include in gardens to even consider this! Now gardening friends tell me that Round-up is the only way to eliminate this plant. Do not plant it, and avoid nurseries that sell it!

ZONE 5

I LOVE THIS PLANT!!!

It is stunning when in bloom and has nice green foliage when it is not. I have it planted in full sun in a bed that gets VERY little attention and almost no watering except during times of prolonged drought. It has never tried to reseed outside the bed, but the single plant I started with five years ago has turned into a nice large clump. This spring I am going to divide it and move some to other places so I can enjoy it even more.

Maybe this plant is "invasive" if it is grown in a constantly damp area (as is purple loosestrife), but grown where it is kept fairly dry it is a very well behaved plant and one of my favorites.

It makes nice cut flowers to add to a mixed bouquet.

I would also be wonderful grown in a white themed bed!!!

I really enjoy this plant. Passerbys always stop to look at it (especially when it sports one "head" and two "beaks" - lol) and comment. However in full sun and continuously moist or clays soil (next to your fishpond or near your cabin's lake shore) it will certainly become an unruly guest. I recommend planting gooseneck in partial sun, or on the north side of the house. As long as it is not allowed to dry out, it will do well and not become invasive, though you may want to divide it every fall and give some away to those passerbys or gardening friends. :)

Here in the Portland, Oregon area I'm able to grow this without too much trouble. I've had it in my garden for 3-4 years and find I need to go around the outside perimeter of the plant once a year to pull/cut out the suckers so it doesn't get wider than about 3 feet across.

Don't!

Do not plant this. Hiding behind its innocent white flowers is an evil plant that will torment you for the rest or your gardening days. I loved the way it looked at one time.

This plant is Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction.

Has anyone ever seen this as a bush? Every listing I've found listed it as an invastive plant, but my mom used to have two bushes that looked exactly like this. I'd love to get one if I could find it. Does anyone know what it might be?

While some may have problems with this plant, I've found that it's been choked out by other far more aggressive plants. My mother planted this years ago and we're down to one large clump in "The Darwin Garden" aka her perennial bed that went neglected for several years, which I am now trying to restore. Instead of trailing all over the place, it seems to settle in nice, neat clumps. It's great for cutting and adding as gorgeous filler in cut flower arrangements. As others mentioned, it's easy to pull if it ends up where you don't want it since it has a limited and short root system. I haven't seen it show up out of nowhere like myrtle and other plants do, but whatever you plant will double consistently.

All my friends warned me, but I was so taken by clusters of gooseneck loosestrife that I had seen in a nearby public garden that I planted it anyway. Thank heavens it was at the back of one of my borders, so it could only spread in three directions and not four. The blossoms are amazing, especially if they catch the wind. But it has proved very difficult to contain. Those runners--which feel suspiciously like red rubber cables--go everywhere. It has not been fun digging them out from a nearby shrub rose every year. Sunspots, which are also prolific spreaders, are much easier to remove. GL roots go deeper. Much deeper.

I used a rubber edging material to try penning it in when I first planted it, but it lept over that in a single season. Nothing seems to restrain it.

This year, my GL got hit by a nasty case of rust. It's been a bad year for that in Minnesota, but I believe it has hit my gooseneck hardest. This was the last straw. Last night I went out and dug it all out. I'm sure I'll be doing that for a long time, just as I did with the notorious dis-Obedient plant a few years ago.

In order to eradicate such a beast, I have two pieces of advice. Since I have a penchant for invasive species, I've become an expert. 1) Be careful what you plant in its place. A many-stemmed creature might well be a mistake, since the ghosts of loosestrife and His Obedience may secretly entwine themselves among the new guest. I recommend something like oriental lillies, which have a very different look and make the search for relics of the loosestrife much easier to identify. 2) If all else fails, cover the old section of the garden with black plastic for a season. It is ugly, but it will cook anything to death. This finally just about did the trick for the obedient plant, and it may do for the loosestrife.

I agree on the invasive nature of this plant. I purchased 6 total plants, planting three in a trianglar pattern on the sides of a lilac tree. In three years, it has completely taken over my 20-foot perennial bed. I, too, pull it away from my perennials but it is now clustering itself against my sidewalk and edging. I don't want to pull it all out as I do like the look of it but am thinking of pulling it back to a clump form and edging around it.

I have seen that this plant is now illegal to distribute in MN -- does anyone know if this is true??

This plant is OF THE DEVIL!! Seriously, I planted it 9 years ago and am still pulling it. It's really about impossible to irradicate - we've pulled it - round-uped - done everything but set it on fire. Terribly invasive, it will simply take over your entire yard.

When we moved into our new home 4 years ago, we were thoroughly pleased with the beautiful garden we inherited from the prior owner. As I began my journey into the gardening ranks, I appreciated the gooseneck loosestrife for the life added during hot summer months. Four years later, I've grown out of favor with this monster. When a couple of noteworthy perennials stopped returning 2 years ago, I didn't know what to think. Now that I see these reddish white (magenta-like) roots protruding through the flower bed and destroying my "new" lawn, I suspect the loosestrife is to blame. I guess it liked the wet area created when we reseeded our lawn and decided to join the party.

Gooseneck loosestrife is not aggressive in my garden. I have it planted alongside phlox to one side, daylilies on another and just plain grass on the third. It has been in this location for about 6 years, and while it has grown in girth (I'd given it plenty of room), it has not tried to grow outside it's area.

In 1997, my mother-in-law gave me a 12" clump of this perennial for my garden, but told me it could be invasive. I decided to plant it at the far end where control might be easier. At this spot in the garden there is pretty much full sun and we have a mixture of clay loam and harder clay soil, with little amendment. Springs are abundant in this area of the garden so I rarely have to water it. Other than a generalized feeding of miracle grow in spring, these plants rarely receive other care. Why my loosestrife is not aggressive while others are I'm not sure, other than perhaps poorer soil.

I cannot really say if Gooseneck Loosestrife (unrelated to purple loosestrife-different family altogether. It is related to Garden Loosestrife and fringed Loosestrife-all are in the Primrose family.) will be hard to control where I put it, but I have high hopes. I use plants like this in those areas where nothing grows and it spends large hunks of time a mudhole. It is planted with marshmallow, and Joe Pye Weed, Yarrow and now Ligularia seeds. There is a space lawn mower sized between the plants and the shrubby wetland, and it is mowed several times a year.

From what I hear here and in my garden club, it can be good for specific circumstance but only if you have the time and expertise to keep an eye on it.

This looks like a beautiful plant. Does anyone know if it is the same as the Purple Loosestrife? That one is not allowed to grow here in Lincoln, Ne. It is considered a noxious weed, and is not allowed at all. Quite a few gardeners around town got fines for growing it. I guess it does something to streams and such.

while I have found the Gooseneck Loosestrife to be very aggressive, I have had little trouble dealing with it. I like it when my plant all grow and mush together. when this guy starts growing where I don't want it I just pull it out. the roots come up easily. it will try to grow back, but I just yank them out again.

Ideal perennial for shade or a moist sunny location. It will spread quickly so keep watch on the plant or plant where you don't mind it roaming. Very tough perennial and easy care!

This plant is a lovely ground cover, and has the most unique blooms. It does well almost anywhere I have planted it, but if you are not VERY careful this little fellow will take over your entire garden. I planted 2 plants and within 2 years it spread throughout half of my backyard. Now I have it in a little corner of my garden, and as long as you keep it UNDER CONTROL it is a lovely addition to any garden.

I love gooseneck. Yes it can be invasive but you have to plant it where you want a strong grower. I mix it with nicotina, cosmos, delpheniums and they simply spill out beautiful gooseneck flowers and fill in all the gaps that weeds would normally try to fill in. They are perfect flowers for cut flower arrangements. Not a good plant for someone who wants to not be an active gardener. It will spread rapidly if you do not maintain your yard.

This plant was in an almost sunless north-side flowerbed when we bought our old house in MD 2 years ago. I have never seen any plant do so well in such an uninviting environment. The house is on a lovely ridge but the location is hard on plants due to the heavy clay and stony soil, little water retention, and full exposure to cold north winds in the winter. This plant has thrived on the adverse conditions and we still have to work to keep it contained in its bed. Still, it's nice to have anything flower in the spot that it's in. I'm sure the previous owner planted it there simply because the loosestrife was one of the few plants that could survive in that spot.
Mind you the south side of our house is a whole different micro-climate. It's amazing.

(I garden in the Mid-Atlantic). Pretty, graceful white flowers. Children love them as they look like gooseheads. Grows in sun to part shade in a variety of soils. Very easy. As stated, can be very invasive. Spreads by the roots. Plant in a pot or a confined area. Not a plant for the perennial garden, (will choke out other plants, even chokes out mint!). However, planted where you want it to spread, or where you need to take up space or cover a bare patch, and quickly, or where nothing else grows, it's perfect. Mine spreads beneath a lilac bush with violets where nothing else grows. Will choke out weeds. Bees love them. Pretty for cutting. Clip after flowering to prevent seed set, (although primary means of spreading is by the roots).

this plant is extremely invasive and attracts wasps. i have been trying to eradicate it from my garden for two seasons and i aggressively wipe out any sign of remains because i have learned the hard way that this plant spreads extremely fast. i wish someone had forewarned me about this plant before i allowed it in my garden.

Even heavy clay soil does not stop this thug! Yes, the flowers are attractive and different - they bring a chuckle to lots of people; but this plant runs amuck too easily for my liking. Even planted in a "bottomless pot" for control, this one is strong enough to break apart the pot!

Every bit of root left in the soil will re-sprout.

Heavy clay and standing water seems to control its invasiveness somewhat, but good loam makes it impossible to completely eradicate.

Beautiful flower, but it will take over the garden. Very hard to control.

Good tough, adaptable plant so long as you have a spot for it, and keep an eye on it - it can be a bit "thuggish" if you don't.

A beautiful perennial that will accept a lot of morning and mid-day sun (zone 5). Gorgeous blooms atop 2' plant; appears mildew resistant, spreads but is easily controlled. Transplants easily.