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Weed Shrub Identification please.

Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 23,069
in Plants
This shrub keeps popping up in my garden in France. Even when very young it is hard to pull up. Does anyone know what it is, please?  The one in the photo went unnoticed for a while and is now quite big, a metre tall. I tried to dig it up end of winter but it was tough so I cut it down and this is what has grown since.





 
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
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Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,047
    Could it be a Philadelphus Liz? 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,639
    edited August 2022
    Leaf shape would indicate Cornus sp.
    Cornus alba maybe..berries white
    Or Cornus sanguineus...berries black.


    Pic below are Philadelphus..vein very different from Cornus.
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,639
    edited August 2022
    See above.
    Try the leaf test.
    Gently pull the leaf apart as my pics below
    Cornus leaves will hang from the 2 halves on a magical silk thread




    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 23,069
    Yes, thank you @Silver surfer. That was what I thought it might be. The berries are black. But when I typed weed cornus into Google it didn't come up with much, just ornamental cornus to buy online.

    Definitely not philadelphus @Lyn, but thanks anyway.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 23,069
    Have Googled it again. Nurseries actually sell it for hedging, it's a pain in the neck here. Also sites say that it like wet places. Here it grows in dry as a bone rocky places.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,639
    edited August 2022
    i feel it is essential for a winter interest shrub.
    Here I have planted Cornus alba sibirica...love it.
    Had a huge patch in old garden...1st pic.
    The red stems in winter are super.
    Every few years you just cut it back to a stump and it regrows.

    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,639
    edited August 2022
    More..I love many Cornus.

    eg.Cornus sanguineus winter flame
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,639
    eg Cornus anguinea Midwinter fire.
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,639
    eg Cornus sericea flavimea...with green twigs.
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,639
    eg...a dwarf one Cornus sericea Kelseys Gold
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
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