Monday 16 August 2010

Along the Roadside

Maybe you have heard of purple loosestrife?  It was originally a garden flower but it escaped from captivity and did so well in the wild that a few years ago it threatened to choke native growth out of the damp boggy ground it prefers.  It was declared a noxious weed and people devoted their spare time to uprooting it.  Finally a bug was identified that would eat it and not cause even more harm to the environment, the bug was released and the infestation has been reduced.  There is still a lot around, however, especially in my Canadian shield environment where boggy ground and stream sides abound.

What the worriers missed, in my opinion, is that purple loosestrife is beautiful.  Even one clump packs a punch; and seen against a green or blue background, with other flowers for contrast, it makes spectacular scenery.  And so, to finish up the 'bold' keyword, here are three photos of a wetland near my home.

022/365

023/365

024/365

All of these were taken using autofocus - it was really windy this morning and the vegetation was doing a lot of bending and waving.

8 comments:

  1. where we lived in Louisiana the home owners association made us pull up the day lillies and irises that grew in the ditches... such a shame because they were so pretty. but they "blocked the water flow"

    whatever.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is quite beautiful, and I'm not really sure how much of the other vegetation is indigenous. Once at the cottage, I picked up five plants and looked them up; they were all exotic if I recall.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's a real problem here in NEO, where it has begun to take over everywhere. Pretty, but it's Northern Kudzu!

    ReplyDelete
  4. it is a beautiful plant and I love your photo's. We have several species that arrived, invaded and have been declared noxious weeds as well. (russian olive, tamarisk, and thistle)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I hadn't heard of purple loosestrife, but we were just down in New York, and noticing big swaths of purple flowers that looked like that. I wonder if it was the same stuff.

    And, yes, it sure is pretty! Beautiful photos.

    ReplyDelete
  6. In addition to being beautiful, it also has a beautifully apt name.

    ReplyDelete
  7. We used to spot it in a game we used to play on road trips...it used to be very, very easy to spot. I love your photos!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sue beat me to the punch, commenting on the name. Purple loosestrife needs a better PR rep.

    ReplyDelete