Plants > Plant ID questions

Unknown plant at Ightham Mote

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Eric Hardy:

--- Quote from: JohnB on June 29, 2011, 03:23:02 AM --- It's amazing how 'weeds' can look so nice sometimes!
--- End quote ---
They say weeds are just plants in the wrong place, John. We have some beautiful weeds in our garden  ;D

Trevor Ellis:
just a quick note that probably you've seen already but just in case, Chiltern Seeds http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/item.php?id=977A sell Phacelia tanacatefolia at £1.72 per packet. I agree that some so designated 'weeds' are amongst the prettiest of plants - pity at times that some of them are so proliferous! It seems, according to the gardening fashionistas that wildflowers are the 'in' thing?!?!

Trevor

JohnB:
It's also true that plants sold in one part of the country can be invasive weeds in another. When I lived in New Jersey, I bought a few Broom plants (Cytisus scoparius) over the years and could generally only keep them alive for 2-3 years, yet I really liked them.

We came out to the Pacific North West and on the West side of the Cascades in and around Seattle, Broom is an invasive weed - which initially I didn't know. So when in spring, a few plants started blooming all over the property, I was delighted - until a few local experts came over and were aghast that I hadn't yanked them out...

Needless to say, we still have Broom, but only because it prolifically self seeds and we haven't completely caught up with it!

ideasguy:
On a quick surf, I think the plant you have mentioned John - Cytisus scoparius - was growing in my garden in my Dads time and there were a few growing when we moved here.
One came up in an unexpected place, and I pruned it into a rounded shape and removed lowers side branches to make it look like a large standard. It was spectacular :) Sadly it died, so perhaps it didn't like that treatment :(
Seedlings used to appear in one particular area, and I pulled them out. I haven't seen any seedlings for years, and now you've mentioned it, I'd like to grow one again.
As I recall, they had a long tap root, so didn't take easily to being potted up after being uprooted. I may not have cared for it properly - it was one of those plants I pot up and don't worry too much if they don't make it.

Ive seen a much smaller variety in gardens around here with very pale cream flowers - a real beauty with arching stems growing to about 4ft. Not sure of its name. Anyone grow anything like that?

Eric Hardy:

--- Quote from: ideasguy on June 29, 2011, 11:59:34 PM --- - Cytisus scoparius - Ive seen a much smaller variety in gardens around here with very pale cream flowers - a real beauty with arching stems growing to about 4ft. Not sure of its name. Anyone grow anything like that?
--- End quote ---
No, George, we don't have a pale one like that. I think ours is just a domesticated wild one. Some years ago Adam, our eldest, brought home a small plant from France and we put it in. It grew to be almost 6 feet high. I think our present one may be a third generation. The one thing we have learned is that it most certainly does not like being pruned, so I am not surprised yours didn't like the treatment. This one is growing against a fence and has got a tendency to to arch too far forward when in full flower and it has become heavy with rain. At the moment it has three discreet props of hazel branches (cut with forks at the top) holding up the main stems. As John says, they are not long lived. I think in the wild they must just keep going by perpetually reseeding themselves. Now ours is just a mass of seed pods after a spectacular display.

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