I recently moved into a new house and as part of rejuvenating the garden, I cleared a whole bed of weeds, bulbs and everything else - or so I though. After all the rain and sunshine a forest of this stuff appeared over the course of a few days. It looks kinda nice, but before I pull the lot up, I wondered if anyone can help me identify it. It has no noticable smell, and the roots are shallow and easy to pull up. Can anyone help?.. Thanks. Curt.
Hi Curt and welcome. It looks like it could be a sort of white evening primrose - Oenothera, except they are usually scented, most noticably in the evening. If it is, they self seed prolifically and bees and moths love them. If not, then I don't know.
Thank you both very much for your quick replies. Although the bees are all over them, I think Pete has got it spot on there with Echium. After a quick wikipedia search I found this which looks just like a purple variety of it. I really need to dig up the bed where they are, and although I'd like to keep them I'm not sure they'll survive a transplant as their roots are so shallow. Should I have a go at shifting them, or leave my landscaping until they've withered away?... Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again. Curt.
Gotta own up now, dendy sent me some small echium plants last year, and this year they have seeded everywhere, I've been pulling them out from all sorts of places on the alottment. I not sure curt, but I dont think they transplant well once they start to flower, but they grow very quickly.