Weed or not?
D0rdogne_Damsel
Saint Yrieix La Perche, Haute Vienne/Dordogne border. FrancePosts: 3,952
I have an Open Garden Day on Sunday and before I look a complete twit in front of everyone can I have some expert advice on pictured plant below. I have been nurturing it for weeks, thought it was Michaelmas Daisy but now not so sure, looks decidedly different to the others - I fear it is a weed - please advise. 
Thank you very much.
"To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul." — Alfred Austin
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Doesn't look like the Michelmas daisies I grow, but looks like it could be quite spectacular, whatever it is. Tell people it is a rarity donated by the GW forum. And if you don't like it when it flowers, whip it out before the seeds set
Whatever it is, I'm sure its flowers will be of great interest to pollinating insects - that's undoubtedly why you're growing it
The only thing I can suggest is check out these picture and see if something rings a bell... then take it frm there:
https://www.google.fr/search?q=tall+branched+herbaceous+lanceolate+leaves&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=mq6HVf37OcLXUaXQgdAI&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1536&bih=770
It looks quite like loosestrife DD. It's similar to quite a few plants but I can't put my finger on it. Nut or Bob will know
Thank you very much for the advice, am taking solace in the fact that so far no-one else knows, I may well make up a name if anyone asks - diu viridi alienigena for example (tall green stranger).
Epilobium angustifolia? The pink form is called fireweed or rosebay willowherb in UK but the white form is lovely in the garden.
If Outdoor girl is correct, then you're obviously growing it as the food plant of the Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillars, aren't you?
I am not sure it's fireweed ... Epilobium (Chamerion) angustifolium description from wikipedia:
"The reddish stems of this herbaceous perennial are usually simple, erect, smooth, 0.5–2.5 m (1½–8 feet) high with scattered alternate leaves. The leaves are entire, lanceolate, and pinnately veined."
BUt I might be wrong
No you're right. Katherine.
I'm pretty sure it's a weed that has masses of little white flowers that then turn into fluffy seeds like mini dandelions and get everywhere. But I just can't remember the name. They often grow on waste ground and are very common here.