Solved Thought was going to be foxglove but has small blue flowers....

Hi,

can anyone help with this one please?

Thanks

Will

 

Could be Green alkanet / RHS Gardening

 

Nice clear pics!
White dots on the leaves are a clue.
Beware it is a thug.

 

thanks

 

do you think it could be the green alkanet too?

i must admit, the pics I have found of Alkanet on the internet don’t convince me it is.

 

Pentaglottis Sempervirens..common name Green alkanet.
pete was correct.

Beware..it is very invasive!

 

Ok thanks for your reply and thanks Pete too.

 

Actually it seems to be suffering in the heat, it likes damp shade, recently bought some bare root plants, but have a predominantly concrete garden and I'm growing it in pots, great if you want busy busy bees in your garden as mentioned by @Nikolaos in another post.

 

Isn't it a 'B' it is an attractive plant. Talk about, 'Come into my parlours says the spider to the fly' Gottch yer. Next door garden is now covered with this plant. If only folk would listen and learn. If you intend to cut it down. Do so before it flowers and seeds. Never mind it's attractiveness it spells danger. Dig it out and burn.

 

Near here is a famous Rhododendron garden,Glendoick....normally open to visitors in April and May.
It still has many special Rhododendrons but underneath now it just has a carpet of Pentaglottis sempervirens.....all other interesting plants swamped by it..see my first pic above.
This weed is a beautiful thug.
I cannot believe anyone would sell it.
There are other bee friendly beautiful plants that will not take over.

 

Right, been out and had a look and guess what, there is more of it of course. Cut and removed for now, will have a go at digging up roots at some point. Thanks everyone, love this website.

 

What I can't believe is that it was in the "Top 500 Garden Plants For Wildlife" list in my wildlife gardening book (an RSPB publication), with no emphasis on just how invasive it is! Only comment regarding its invasiveness was this...

"Because of its invasiveness, restrict it to wilder parts of the garden and lightly shaded places such as hedgerow edges."

Same with the website page I shared here when I identified it on the thread @mazambo mentioned...

GREEN ALKANET (Pentaglottis sempervirens) - Highbury Wildlife Garden

I was considering growing it in pots myself, but it sounds like a prolific self-seeder in addition to the rapid root spread issue. Certainly won't be growing it now, thanks for alerting me to how bad the problem can get @Silver surfer and @Mike Allen. I know all this wildlife-friendly gardening advice some of us read is well-intentioned and a positive, inspiring thing overall, but I do wish more emphasis would be placed on the potential hazards!

Nick

 

@Silver surfer and @Nikolaos ok you've convinced me, out they go, looking at some devils bit scabious to replace them

 

An excellent choice.
Delighted with this news.
Thanks for telling us all.

 

@mazambo Don't know anywhere as much about bee-friendly plants, but for butterflies you could plant things that attract the greatest diversity of species, such as Origanum vulgare, Verbena bonariensis (although self-seeding can be an issue), Buddleia davidii (or x weyeriana) and Eupatorium cannabinum (I've read that some other Eupatorium species/cultivars can be just as successful).

That's also one that a diversity of species enjoy according to my book: Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Small Copper and whites. Planting en masse in drifts or blocks is said to be the best way to get great results, so that's what I'm doing this year.

Nick