Do NOT plant this colorful perennial

Seeing it on sale yesterday at the otherwise splendid local nursery, Fair Acres Farm in New Jersey, reminded me what a mistake it is to plant the variegated form of the Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica). I’ve seen it planted at Chanticleer, where it looked lovely, I saw pots of it at one of our top wholesale growers and at one of our top mail order nurseries.

And years ago I saw it at Kew – where it was reverting to its rampageous and unstoppable plain green and coming up in the lawn and spreading, in spite of regular mowing..

You don’t need me to tell you that Japanese knotweed is one of the nastiest of invasive plants. I’ve discussed it here before. But nurseries still sell the variegated form. It reverts to green. They should not sell it. And it’s not just in the USA, three mail order nurseries sell it in Britain. I’m not going to tell you who, just in case you’re tempted.

By the way, to be correct the name of this plant is Fallopia japonica var. compacta ‘Milk Boy’. It’s been known as ‘Variegata’ and as ‘Fuji Snow’, but ‘Milk Boy’ is correct. Its new shoots are lovely salmony pink, it’s mature foliage speckled in white.

  You can see what the tag on the Fair Acres Farm plants read! Ground Cover? I’ll say. And it's very attractive. But it's just too much of  risk.