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I am so cute but I come with warning.


I am so cute but I come with warning.

Please do not put Houttuynia cordata in the ground. It is a horrible tug. It is sold as ground cover but when established you will never get rid of it (not even with roundup) and it will choke everything. Too bad as it is very attractive plant with variegated leaves and cheerful flowers. Some of the cultivated varieties are slightly less vigorous . In some countries it's used as a herb or vegetable (India, Vietnam) but its smell is unusual and not pleasant to most people. It is said that it has an antiviral, antibacterial properties. Apparently, there is evidence that this plant kills cancer cells. Buying pills from this plant is very expansive.

I have a small plant in the pot on the deck and loving it. .



Comments on this photo

 

Sorry Medowland. Yours did not come with warning then!
I personally think that they should stop selling it..... no matter how attractive it seemed to be as a small plant. It is not a ground cover which can be controlled.

29 Jun, 2015

 

Mine has actually been 'strangled' by Aubretia and Arabis, so I'd forgotten I once had it! Good idea to keep it in a pot, Klahanie.

30 Jun, 2015

 

Sheila, We have hills covered with vinca manor and vinca major and other parts with Saint John Wort...some in the same spot overlaying each other. Forest full of Salal and Mahonia which is not easily penetrable....also deep in the dark forest the Lamium galeobdelum is doing very well and cannot be controlled .... and there are all these ferns popping out everywhere and choking everything.... ivy growing wild and do not forget the Himalayan blackberries, this region is known by, growing up the trees everywhere. There are of course other plants I cannot control.... so introducing a Houttuynia would be just an addition to this collection :-)

Just not in my flower bed, which is sandwiched between two driveways and not easily reached from the other parts.
I wonder if deer would like Houttuynia, he will not eat any of the plants I mentioned. They like my introduced plants, buggers.
Oh, and I have to mention that I love it all.

1 Jul, 2015

 

That's a lovely 'essay' Klahanie - thanks for making me laugh :))

3 Jul, 2015

 

:-)

3 Jul, 2015

 

I hate the smell it's got :(

4 Jul, 2015

 

Me too Hywel. Awful smell.

5 Jul, 2015

 

I have some in a pot :)

5 Jul, 2015

 

I like it in the pot Holly. It is such cheerful plant but the smell is not pleasant. I have only small plant so not as serious.

5 Jul, 2015

 

:))

11 Jul, 2015



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