landscaping Designs

Fireweed

Epilobium

Epilobium angustifolium ( Fireweed )
A fast growing to invasive perennial, that in the wild colonizes sites left bare after forest fires and rapidly forms a thick mat of spreading roots that prevent erosion by binding the soil. It often forms pure stands covering large areas.
Fireweed, reaches a maximum size of 8 x 8 feet, and is native over large areas in the Northern Hemisphere.
The alternate arranged leaves are narrow and willowy.
The purplish-pink flowers are borne on racemes during summer into early autumn.
It thrives in full sun and is soil tolerant. Propagation is from seed or division and this plant often reproduces itself.
Fireweed is edible and the leaves and stems are rich in Vitamin A and C. The young shoots can be snapped off at the base and cooked a few minutes like Asparagus or chopped and used in salads. The older leaves and stems are bitter.
The flowers and flower buds can be added to salads.
The natives in Siberia made a drink considered to be somewhat between LSD and Gin that was made from brewing a drink with the hullucinogenic mushroom ( Fly Agaric - Amanita muscariai ) and the pith of the Fireweed stems.
Being very rapid growing, the Firewood is useful for Green Manure.
Epilobium hirsutum ( Hairy Willow Herb ), E. latifolium ( River Beauty ) and E. montana are all similarly edible.

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Epilobium fleisheri
A long-lived, mat-forming perennial, reaching a maximum size of 32 x 20 inches, that is native to the European Alps.
The rose-red flowers are borne on flat-topped clusters during late summer.
Hardy zones 3 to 7 in full sun.

Epilobium hirsutum
A rhizomatous perennial, reaching a maximum size of 7 x 6 + feet, that is native to Eurasia.
The leaves are up to 4 inches in length.
The deep red flowers are borne on clusters all summer long.
Hardy zones 2 to 7 in full sun on moist soil. It is not drought tolerant.