Plant ID Thread (Merged)

Davesnave

Gangstabird wrote: »

Can you believe that I wanted a fast climber for my trellis and was sold, Polygonum which equals 'Japanese/Chinese knotweed' and is not allowed to be handled by companies in some instances.

It's one of those horrible bloody things that devour the sides of railways etc.

I bought it from Lidls and after seeing it shoot up the trellis was a bit worried, this happened in days.

I have written to them.

Do you mean Polygonum baldschuanicum, which has now been reclassfied as
Fallopia baldschuanicum, but otherwise known as Russian vine? This has been around for ages; my Dad used it to 'encourage' a neighbour to repair a 10' wall which fell into our garden back in the 1960s! They are a menace, but they're not illegal. However, people should realise that planting them leads frequently to boundary invasions, which is of course what my Dad was trying to create all those years ago. As far as I remember, it worked and the wall went back!

Lidl are definitely irresponsible selling these Polygonum in bulk, many of them to people who wouldn't have the room for it if they knew what they were letting themselves in for.

There are lots of polygonums in cultivation, not all bad & uncontrollable though, so people shouldn't write them all off. There's even a nice little one that goes in hanging baskets.

Back to the OP; I agree that it is Hemp nettle. I thought the flower clusters looked too dense for impatiens & was scratching around in lamiums, motherworts etc, but couldn't get anything to fit. I might be lucky, but I've not noticed Hemp nettle where I live. Probably see it all the time now!

Gangstabird

http://www.cabi-bioscience.org/html/japanese_knotweed_alliance.htm

This was the page I found, and it frightened the life out of me, I ran outside and began pulling it up :beer: in the rain. My neighbour asked me what I was doing and she laughed when I told her what I had planted.:o

But you are very probably right, it may have been a different species.

Purple_Sparkles

I hope you manage to get rid of your Japanese knotweed Gangstabird.

I've pulled the hemp nettle and it came out very easily, I can't see any remaining roots so fingers crossed it won't come back. I hate pulling plants up but I think in this instance it was the right thing to do.

I've spent over an hour removing caterpillars from my broccoli this morning. I found two butterfly cocoons in my greenhouse that I gently removed and took up the road to the parkland. My first year of growing my own veg and I didn't realise the pretty butterflies were laying their eggs all over my broccoli, I've learnt my lesson for next year!

Davesnave

Gangstabird wrote: »

http://www.cabi-bioscience.org/html/japanese_knotweed_alliance.htm

This was the page I found, and it frightened the life out of me, I ran outside and began pulling it up :beer: in the rain. My neighbour asked me what I was doing and she laughed when I told her what I had planted.:o

But you are very probably right, it may have been a different species.

Yes, the one on that web page is the knotweed some folk imported back in the 19th century, because they thought it looked nice. Absolute manace seen in lots of places like riverbanks & railway embankments. It usually looks a bit sorry for itself by this time of year as, in most cases, someone like the farmer or the council will come along and hammer it with glyphosate.

magpie

I picked these very small friuts from a tree/shrub in Granada. They are about the size of eldererries, however they are blue/purple and have an irredescence aout them. Does anyone know what they are? If, So can I grow them from the seed in this country , even under cover and what are the conditions they need.?Any help would be gratefully received.

arkonite_babe

We have a thread similar to this already, I'll add your query to it so all the replies are together. Posts are listed in date order so you'll need to read from the beginning to catch up

arkonite_babe

magpie wrote: »

I picked these very small friuts from a tree/shrub in Granada. They are about the size of eldererries, however they are blue/purple and have an irredescence aout them. Does anyone know what they are? If, So can I grow them from the seed in this country , even under cover and what are the conditions they need.?Any help would be gratefully received.

Magpie, I have resized your picture as it was distorting the forum

Pippilongstocking

Re shrub from granada - looks a bit like a vaccinium - blueberry family (ericaceae)- but without seeing it more can't say - what kind of place was it growing in?

Try growing it in some compost you never know! But be careful, if you don't know what it is, then I 'd be a bit cautious with it! Looks pretty

magpie

fayjmck wrote: »

Re shrub from granada - looks a bit like a vaccinium - blueberry family (ericaceae)- but without seeing it more can't say - what kind of place was it growing in?

Try growing it in some compost you never know! But be careful, if you don't know what it is, then I 'd be a bit cautious with it! Looks pretty

Thanks
It was growing in a wooded area on the walk down from the Alhambra which was quite shaded, but obviously very warm. There were quite a few of these trees/shrubs. The fruits are very pretty...the picture does not do them justice. The fruits have the same appearance as callicarpa but are blue/purple

Pippilongstocking

Hmm native or planted woodland? Had a look at callicarpa - they aren't growing in the same bunched manner wonder if it is that family looks more like something from blueberry/ or rose family type of fruit - is the top of the fruit indented with a bit of a tiny spike like thing point? Interesting, sorry got my botanists/plantsman head on! love a challenge