When wild flowers come into our gardens we call them weeds. Some garden plants make a break for it and escape from our gardens into the wild. Look at this exotic bloon. Is it an exotic orchid perhaps? No! It is the purple toadflax which grows naturally on volcanic slopes in the hot climate of southern Italy and Sicily! Introduced to Britain as a garden plant, it now grows on walls and pavements.This one is growing happily in the town centre by the bus station
I have some of that growing in my garden, and though I know its a weed, I let it stay because the bees go mad for it, and can't get enough of it. The only problem is that it seeds everywhere, but when it gets too much, then I just thin it out. Mine is as tall as the one in the photo. Kandy
There are several different types of toadflax, Wildflower. The one that is native to Britain is the yellow one and its height is variable depending on where it grows.
I have that growing in my garden, its lovely and really attracts the insects..thanks Hornbeam I did not know the name :confused:
Buddleia davidii is one of the great escapers. Discovered by Pere David on the Tibet/China border in 1869, it was brought to Europe twenty years later. Known as the Butterfly Bush, it has been, and still is, widely grown in gardens. It never looks right in a garden or hedgerow, but looks splendid growing from the walls of industrial buildings etc. Clearly, at home it must be a plant of cliffs and stony places. The garden books tell you that you should prune it hard to improve the flowers. What nonsense - this one has never been pruned since a seed escaped from a garden and lodged itself in the wall above the canal. Another plant happy on the canal bank is Purple Loosestrife Plants in the urban environment fascinate me. Great Willowherb will flower briefly and then seed enthusiastically before the plant is destroyed. Lichens are accurate indicators of air quality and most will not grow in towns. Mosses and lichens growing on a brick - a truly miniature wild plant garden.
Love the loosestrife.. The great willowherb is a mystery the birds have been attacking mine and the one in the back garden now looks very sorry with no flowers on it..as i was waiting for the seed capsule..but i think the birds got their first..
