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Nice leaves, but is this a weed?

tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 251
in Plants
Hi all,

Ive got a couple of these growing:



Theyre quite big (~50cm diameter). Sort of looks 'weedy' but I quite like the foliage. Is it a weed that I should remove?
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Posts

  • pansyfacepansyface Posts: 21,908
    I don’t know, but I can tell you that those twirly things on the right are the seedheads of willowherb, which is a superspreader weed. 😁
    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
    If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 83,894
    Not sure what it is but there’s flowers forming on that stem at the left so a closer look at the buds as they develop should give us more idea.

    Given that you obviously have a sort of ‘natural wilderness’ style of garden in that area (lots of seeding Willowherb) if it was mine I’d be happy to wait and see what develops. 

    There are similarities in the leaf to Hesperis matronalis (Sweet rocket) but not enough for an ID. 

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





  • IlikeplantsIlikeplants Posts: 894
    I think it’s evening primrose? Yellow flowers, tall.
  • AsarumAsarum Posts: 624
    I agree with Ilikeplants, it's an evening primrose.
    East Anglia
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 885
    Yes looks like Evening Primrose to me. Biennial so will flower next year. Good for attracting moths, new flowers opening each evening. They flower August through to September here and will self seed around, easy to pull up if not where you want them. If you leave them to set seed they will provide lots of entertainment over winter as Tits and Goldfinches love the seeds.
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
  • GrannybeeGrannybee Posts: 312
    Could it be a teasel? Great for goldfinches!
  • a1154a1154 Posts: 1,058
    evening primrose. Suggest you leave it and see if you like it. I didn’t, and started to pull them out. Easy to get out when small, but they do develop big roots. Seeds around a lot. 
  • WilderbeastWilderbeast Posts: 1,413
    Evening primrose, mine have only just come into flower. I left too many to go to seed last year and have had loads of self seeders so have weeded out quite a lot
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 2,859
    edited September 2020
    I'm surprised no one has suggested Dock.
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 83,894
    edited September 2020
    tuikowhai34 said:
    I'm surprised no one has suggested Dock.
    I'm not ... it doesn't look like a dock to me ... leaf shape, veining, stem and colours all wrong.  :)


    Photo from Dave's Garden website

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





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