unknown plant/weed
Helofagarden
Posts: 2
Please can any one help identify this plant i have been told its not knotweed but i have stumped everyone i have asked as to what it is. It is very tall and the bees love it but do i keep or kill?
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Helofagarden
Posts: 2
Posts
Figwort http://www.english-country-garden.com/flowers/common-figwort.htm . This is obviously a good year for it; it's been cropping up all over the place. It likes the damp - it used to be used medicinally by herbalists for skin conditions.
I suppose technically it's a weed nowadays, but I think it's an interesting and elegant plant that you don't see often in the wild any more. It was the first 'unknown' plant that I was taught to identify on nature walks as a child, so I'm quite fond of it
If the bees love it I'd leave it there for the rest of the summer - you can always pull it out later if you don't want it to seed - if it has already seeded you'll recognise the seedlings next year and you can decide whether you want to allow a few to survive or whether to weed them out while they're small.
I bought a packet of Verbascum chiaxii alba seeds from a company on line, Can't remember the company, But most of the seeds germinated and turned out to chiaxii (yellow) a few were the white form i wanted. But unknown to me until they started to send up the flower stalk was no end of these figworts. They are attractive, but having such a large crown of leaves, i gave them to the OH for the peat bog. They have been doing very well this year.
Thank you I think i will leave it until it finishes flowering then try to collect the seed and move to the end of the garden which i am trying to create a haven for wildlife