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Get rid or keep?

soulboysoulboy Posts: 429
in Plants
Please could someone ID this plant for me. There quite a few, that are from a pack of wildflower or summer annual seeds sown last year. I'm sure I've had it before and seem to recall it was an unremarkable plant.

It s tallish, currently about 30cm.

Posts

  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    edited May 2019
    Looks like Centranthus, commonly but incorrectly known as Valerian. Could be red or white. Some people grow it as a border plant but i know it as a wildflower. It has a very long taproot and can smell very strongly unpleasant at certain times of the year, like musky fox. Your choice really. 
  • hobsonrichard19hobsonrichard19 Posts: 8
    Its Hieracium canadense. Get rid of it immediately. It can take over your lawn and destroy it completely. You should use professional weed killers to kill weeds.
    Richard Hobson



  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    hobsonrichard19 said:
    Its Hieracium canadense. Get rid of it immediately. It can take over your lawn and destroy it completely. You should use professional weed killers to kill weeds.
    Oh, so I'm wrong there but I have to say that it looks like Centranthus a lot. I've never seen the Hieracium before (which I'm glad of I think). 
  • soulboysoulboy Posts: 429
    edited May 2019
    Thanks for your responses. It is definitely Centranthus, I knew that I recognised the stem and leaves from somewhere. Definitely not a keeper for me.
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,162
    Hieracums I have seen have fuzzy leaves


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 83,966
    nutcutlet said:
    Hieracums I have seen have fuzzy leaves
    The ones I take out of our front lawn with a daisy grubber definitely have fuzzy leaves 😊 @nutcutlet

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,152
    edited May 2019
    Looks to me like centrathus/valerian which, in the right place, looks fabulous and is a great plant ofr pollinators.

    I know hieracium as Fox and Cubs which is also a useful wildflower for pollinators and is actually sold by Crocus.

    A classic case of beauty in the eye of the beholder then and, either way, definitely not something to attack with chemicals.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • B3B3 Posts: 25,252
    I quite like them and have them in all colours. Never noticed a smell but we have loads of foxes so I'd probably blame it on them.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • soulboysoulboy Posts: 429
    Hi folks, thanks for all the input. It's definitely Centranthus, or valerian. The pic's aren't the best I've posted but the leaves are hairless and have the characteristic shape and curling of valerian.

    Also, I recognise them from previous ones in my garden and elsewhere (now that I've been reminded what they are). The reason for getting rid of them is that they are in a neighbour's garden that I maintain for her and don't fit in the scheme for the border. There are plenty of other plants that will attract pollinators so it's not a great loss.

    I'm not a fan of it anyway and always remove it from my garden when it appears.
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