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Hi, does anyone have any idea what this is? It's grown huge, but no sign of any flower all summer

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  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,063
    No, I wasn't sure about the leaves either. They are biennial though, so you wouldn't see the flower stalk until the second year. But then, boy would you see it! 
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 20,953
    It could be Hesperis. It is a biennual which means it will flower in it's 2nd year. Mine grow quite tall with clumps of purple flowers. There is a white one too. They are scented and seed themselves.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • RowenagRowenag Posts: 22
    I think from the replies, nobody has said it's a weed so I will just leave it and see what happens next year and hope a flower appears. It just seems quite invasive and looks bigger every time I see it so I didn't know whether to just dig it out
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 28,820
    Teasel for me too.  I planted some once because goldfinches apparently love the seedheads.   None of those in our area and no other birds seen eating the seeds and a garden full of baby teasels followed.  For years.  Total PITA as the leaves are unattractive, the flower is unattractive and the seed production is prolific. 

    You have been warned!
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • RowenagRowenag Posts: 22
    Obelixx said:
    Teasel for me too.  I planted some once because goldfinches apparently love the seedheads.   None of those in our area and no other birds seen eating the seeds and a garden full of baby teasels followed.  For years.  Total PITA as the leaves are unattractive, the flower is unattractive and the seed production is prolific. 

    You have been warned!
    Thank you. I've read more about teasel now and I think it is that. It describes a large rosette in the first year, which just hugs the ground which this is. We have a lot of goldfinches coming to the garden so it's a shame to remove it, but the article I just read does advise caution because it's very invasive so I think it has to go!
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 20,953
    My teasels have broader, rougher, wrinklier leaves than that.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 82,740
    My teasels have broader, rougher, wrinklier leaves than that.

    So do mine ... with definite prickles on the back of the midrib. 
    “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh







  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 28,820
    The RHS says their leaves can be simple or pinnate - https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/5959/Dipsacus-fullonum/Details 

    I remember some of the unwanted seedlings being easy to spot as they had pointy leaves but some were rounder ended, like @Busy-Lizzie's photo and I'd be conned into thinking they may be bay primula and leave them a while longer till their size made it obvious.


    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • AsarumAsarum Posts: 599
    Evening Primrose?
    East Anglia
  • LynLyn Posts: 21,358
    Evening Primrose. Not Echium or Teasel. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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