Most underrated plant?

What is the most underrated or overlooked plant, in your opinion?

I would say the dandelion.

 

When you consider what a fantastic show a field of them makes in April, then imagine what highly-bred over-sized uber-dandelions might look like.

You'd need to breed them to extend the flower life, maybe. And with infertile seeds!

 

What do you mean - that they would look better, or worse? I personally love dandelions, and just tonight when walking home was amazed at how they completely transformed the roadsides in an area of urban scrubland and industrial estates. As with birdwatching, there are some plants which we take for granted so much that people say "Its just a so-and-so," but on closer inspection they are much to be admired!

 

So glad you like them. :D

 

I'm fond of them too, even when I have to take a trowel to weed them out of my garden. There's nothing more uplifting than a carpet of them in a bright green meadow on a spring day.

The flowers are an impressive size and colour for a wild plant, as well. I wondered why there have not been any efforts to breed in any further desirable qualities? As long as nobody tries for a pink, scented one! Sometimes things are better just left alone.

 

Any plant at all, ARMANDII, and under rated in any capacity. One might say, for instance, that a houseplant like a Yucca is not rightly regarded for it sbeauty, or that Japanese Knotweed is unfairly slandered as a pest.

Campion and willowherb are delightful, I agree. I especially like fireweed, which swathes my local park in summer.

 

I too like dandelions - just not in my garden. I love Herb Robert - I actually let a few grow in my front garden last year, intending to dig them up before they set seed - I forgot and now it's flipping everywhere.

The most underrated plant in my opinion is Ivy - I love the stuff and I think I'm in something of a minority. It's brilliant for wildlife and grows anywhere. My garden is only 35' long and I have 3 different types.

Can't think of an arguement in favour of Japanese Knotweed though

 

Cineraria Maritima Silver Dust.

I grow this versatile plant every year from seed.
This silver leaved drought resistant plant will grow in borders,beds,hanging baskets,tubs and can be cut back and will regrow the following year.
I can't imagine my garden year without it.

 

Dandelions make fantastic coffee, made a batch 2 nights ago & was back digging up more roots this morning.

I likes, Liverworts.

 

Shrub I would say Forsythia

Flowere its little heart out can be made in to a hedge, grown as a specimin bush, easily propergated

But I think it doesnt get the praise it deserves


Spruce

 

In defence of Japanese knotweed, it is a pretty plant and natural source of resveratrol, a nutritional substance used as a supplement said to be effective in combating diabetes among other things. Japanese knotweed has medicinal properties and is very attractive to honey-bees, helping to sustain them in some areas.

In his "Flora Britannica," Richard Mabey describes how Japanese knotweed is used as cattle fodder, and often eaten by people: since the 1960's people have cooked it in jams and pies, and in Wales its used as spinach. The berry juices can be taken as a drink, and for many years children have played in the jungles of knotweed in British cities. One boy remembers how, among the bombed out ruins of post-war Sheffield, "we called it Bambard, because it showed characteristics of both bamboo and rhubarb. the Bambard grew much taller than the average 14-year old, so consequently became a great hiding place from rival gangs and the local Bobby...and for enacting boyish fantasies of jungle warfare and tales of exploration. When the land was finally redeveloped in the early 70's, our beloved wilderness was taken from us forever."

I myself have contributed to this "redevelopment," taking part in a clearance project for BTCV, hacking away the knotweed so as to prepare a garden in the grounds of a bank, and while I'm not saying we should always leave every inch of knotweed everywhere, it is not the villain it is made out to be. It has led to hybridisation with other types of knotweed, which are visited by many different insect species.

My favourite Japanese knotweed story is of a man in Devon who uses it to make pan-pipes for his children. It is worth retaining just for that I suspect, but its also worth considering a recent episode of Radio 4's Saving Species, in which a prominent botanist explained how invasive species like JK may prove endring bulwarks against climate change, and another explained how valiant efforts to remove such species have been ineffective: nature will manage the situation herself and in her own good time.

 

Hi

For me it has to be mint. I have a few different varieties growing in my borders. I love it when I'm cutting the grass and the lawnmower brushes past it, giving off the unmistakable smell.

 

I think rosebay willowherb is an underrated plant and looks fantastic in drifts. How's this for prairie planting au naturelle: