Hi fermentingblob Welcome to Garden Web and The Seed Exchange! I thought you might like to know there is no email link on your member page, thus no way to email you. To set up your email link, just go to the bottom on any page here, and click on Member Pages Then click on Edit your Personal Information, Page, and Preferences You will then probably be asked to login in again. Then check the box Allow other users to send you email via forms at our site. That will place a link on your member page, making it handy for members (potential traders) to reach you in the future. While there editing you might want to also place your state abbreviation in the one box provided for garden zone and location. (see I am zone 5/6 S In) It is beneficial info to have when trading for many reasons. Additionally, there are some traders (myself included) who often do not respond to many posts where the location of the OP is unknown, but that is moreso when trading plants. By putting the state abbreviation in your zone box, it will be listed in your Member Page, and it will also automatically be displayed each time you post. Happy Gardening and trading. Sue ....chemocurl

Try not to be too hard on yourself dirtgirl. According to some maps I saw, the lesser is in Illinois and the greater is pretty close to southern IL in Tennessee. Sometimes because of weather (hurricanes, drought,etc.) birds end up in places they're not usually found, so maybe a bird ate some seeds further south and deposited them in your area. I have the feeling there are probably more of those flowers around there that you just haven't seen yet. Hopefully once you protect it, it will begin to grow into more areas. Can you call a local university and talk to someone in their horticulture department?

Lythrum salicaria does grow on dry soil. When first introduced, it thrived in ordinary garden soil. Yes, there are several native Lythrums in this country. Most are found farther south and along the coasts. L. alatum would probably be the only Lythrum native in Minnesota.

As someone who battles invasive woody plants, I'd love to have you rethink that if you are in an area where these are listed as invasive. (In NH they are bad enough to be on the list of plants that are illegal to sell.) Each bush can produce thousands of seeds annually, and just because you've only found 2 that are bush size doesn't mean it will stay that way; you are making that decision for everyone you share birds with as well. I really don't want to sound like I am lecturing - rather consider it the voice of experience from someone with many years of gardening in both rural and suburban areas. I currently live on a farm with quite literally thousands of invasives that we battle via pulling, mowing, and herbicides, though I don't like having to use herbicides. Seeds can remain in suspended animation in the soil for years, to grow when conditions are right, so if you wait until there's a problem with an invasive, it's too late to do more than control it. You can check with your state's department that deals with environmental issues or even just do a web search with burning bush and your state's name to find out if it is a problem in your area. There are native Euonymus with red fall foliage that might be a better choice if you really want a Euonymus, but in all honesty, I find several plants to be more attractive if you want some alternatives. Euonymus are just big (make that giant if you don't want to prune annually) green blobs for most of the year. You don't say where you are, so I'll give you some plants that grow locally for me, and at the bottom I will add how to add your location to your profile so you may get some other, more appropriate suggestions. - Blueberries are a similar bright red in the fall. Some have colored winter twigs, and they have ornamental spring flowers as well as the berries for you and the birds. They do need acid soil. - Another similar acid lover with nice gold and orange fall color is Enkianthus which has similar bell-shaped flowers to the blueberries. - Fothergilla has fuzzy white bottlebrush spring flowers that smell like honey that come from attractive chartreuse buds, and the fall color is a symphony of red, gold, and orange. I think it's the top shrub I've ever seen for fall color. - Many of the viburnums I grow have great fall color. Probably the best is one of the V. plicatum cultivars (perhaps Maresii?) which has billows of white spring flowers and bright red fall foliage. Sorry I couldn't find a fall photo of it. Many of the others are natives that might be hard to source but here's one of them, I think a Popcorn viburnum that's in mostly shade. IME would be brighter with more sun. This is one of the wild viburnums in the woods, probably V. cassinoides, in full shade, though it has lost many of its leaves and would be fuller and nicely shaped grown in more light. (I just don't have any photos of the nicer ones in good color.) - My ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) Coppertina has reddish foliage all season but gets brighter to form a deep purple-toned red in the fall. In addition it has a lovely fountain shape, pinkish-white late spring flowers, and red seed capsules that contrast beautifully with the summer foliage. Here's how to add zone and location info to your profile: Go to Your Houzz in upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone. If you add info on your state or the nearest large city you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures. Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.