Pheasant Berry Leycesteria formosa Scares Me
My prediction for the next invasive plant in the manner of burning bush is Pheasant Berry Leycesteria formosa. Recently I saw this at a nursery and let me tell you, it is a beauty. Not being familiar with it I decided to look into it as I am not an impulse buyer of shrubs. I have a plan, I have The List but by golly I intended to work Pheasant Berry in there. Here is an image search: Pheasant Berry Leycesteria formosa
The news is not good. It is vigorous. It’s a honeysuckle. Had it been called Lonicera I would have kept walking but was not familiar with Leycesteria. Didn’t we already make the mistake of several different alien honeysuckles? Now honeysuckle is not a bad word but alien honeysuckle should make you pause. Popular gardening forums showed me that gardeners across the country can tell you how wonderful Pheasant Berry grows and it seeds so nicely that you have plenty to give your friends. Some claim that it is not a prolific seeder then they tell me they are in Canada. Canada? Well dang, kudzu isn’t a prolific seeder in Canada either but I’m in the southern U.S. sitting in a sea of it. Well, actually under a sea of kudzu really if you have any experience with this evil.
This does not sound good to me.
Proven Winners is marketing Pheasant Berry Leycesteria formosa heavily. It’s an award winner, Color Choice and everything. With PW behind it you’ll be seeing Pheasant Berry everywhere in no time. It’ll be up to volunteers to clean it out of forest later.
I was told that it isn’t considered an invasive but please, it hasn’t been here long. Where is the common sense in deciding it isn’t invasive if it is a prolific, hardy alien?? I’d rather not find out.
Hey, I am from the land of a plethora tree killers. I’m a tad touchy about invasives. I’m not a native purist, there are beautiful non-invasive aliens that I feel add value to a landscape. I will bite you in the leg before you touch my camellias. At the same time I strongly support a little thought before planting anything. I just don’t grasp how anyone can drive down the road, see woodlands choked with invasive and vines smothering old oaks, then go home and plop something in a garden just because it is pretty. Most gardeners want to attract birds but these same birds need habitat beyond your yard. Planting anything with invasive potential can kill woodland birds live in. Please think about what you plant and what lies beyond your property line. Consider the potential of this particular shrub before putting it in the ground.
Exactly, I couldn’t have put it better myself. People seems to think that if a plant doesn’t immediately take over their yard, or if it isn’t on a list, then it’s just fine and not invasive.
I’m in a different neck of the woods, but tried to grow Leycesteria formosa. It did pretty well at first, bloomed and fruited, but the deer discovered it and tried to eat it to the ground. Anyway, it didn’t make it in my PNW garden- no invasion worries here.
Thank you for pointing out this potential invasive threat. What I don’t understand is even though certain plants ARE already listed as invasive, why can they be sold at most every nursery and box store around? And when you mention that to the ‘associates’ they look at you like you are loony …