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Does anyone know what this is?

(46 Posts)
Greytin94 Wed 15-May-19 13:02:04

Does anyone know what this is ,please?
We bought it last year in the clearance section of our garden centre for 20 p. It had no label and was in a very sorry state. It died back over winter but is thriving now. It doesn’t seem to have any flowers just tiers of twisty, curly leaves.

oodles Wed 15-May-19 13:07:57

any sign of flowers? how tall is it

Gran2028 Wed 15-May-19 13:27:05

Verbascum of some kind??
Mullein??

shysal Wed 15-May-19 14:25:25

I was thinking Foxglove, but agree could be Verbascum, same family. If so it will flower in the next few weeks so you will know.

Greytin94 Wed 15-May-19 17:02:09

Thank you to everyone who’s replied.
It hasn’t flowered yet and I can not see any buds or anything yet to suggest it will.
At the moment it is about 18 inches tall.
We’ve visited a few garden centres to see if we could find anything that resembles it, but no luck yet. Hence why we’ve put it out there for the green fingered Gransnetter’s to ponder over .

Gonegirl Wed 15-May-19 17:07:13

I would definitely say Verbascum. Never lasts very long in my garden. Lovely while it's out though.

lemongrove Wed 15-May-19 17:07:38

It does look like a foxglove Shysal and other than that I have no idea.My foxgloves are about 16” tall now and no flowers as yet.

shandi6570 Wed 15-May-19 17:09:39

I think it's an Evening Primrose. We have lots in our garden, the first one appeared about 10 years ago and since then they have liberally spread themselves around. Very tall with lovely yellow flowers that come out in the evening to attract moths.

Gonegirl Wed 15-May-19 17:18:22

Oh yes! Could well be that! (Evening primrose)

I've got some of those. They're lovely. Self seed all over the place, but hey!

shandi6570 Wed 15-May-19 17:19:13

Should have said it's a Common Evening Primrose. Found a site showing it at the beginning of its growth, just like yours, but unable to copy and paste for some reason (probably me). The site is www.alamy.com then put common evening primrose in the search section, hope that works.

Gonegirl Wed 15-May-19 17:39:33

This is one of my evening primroses. (with forget-me-nots growing over it hmm)

shandi6570 Wed 15-May-19 17:47:25

Yes, Gonegirl, just like ours, including the forget-me-nots smile. You must garden like I do grin

Auntieflo Wed 15-May-19 17:50:26

We had a self seeded verbascum, right on the edge of our front garden. As it grew taller and taller, the granddaughter of a neighbour used to stroke it as she came and went from school. When I eventually cut it down she was most upset, so I am glad to see it growing again this year.

Gonegirl Wed 15-May-19 18:59:57

shandi6570 I'm doing the "No mowing till end of May" thing this year. My garden is turning into a nice little nature reserve. There are forget me nots and other species growing in my front grass, and the rest is resembling a hay meadow. I quite like it. ?

Gonegirl Wed 15-May-19 19:01:05

(I pulled some of the forget me nots out to take the picture)

Nandalot Wed 15-May-19 19:24:20

Do post a picture when it flowers.

Mapleleaf Wed 15-May-19 19:27:07

I’ve just watched a you tube video about identification of Evening Primrose, and your plant definitely looks like the ones shown.

MiniMoon Wed 15-May-19 20:28:33

To me, it looks more like a wild verbascum. Here's a picture to compare, see what you think.
www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=AIn4Lu9w&id=8C55D0EE6D6FC9F3ABF11FCF8108EB87DC450852&thid=OIP.AIn4Lu9wBdNV5HJBVCtvcwHaJ4&mediaurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpics.davesgarden.com%2Fpics%2F2003%2F06%2F27%2Fgazp%2Ffb2720.jpg&exph=1024&expw=768&q=verbascum&simid=607998292255836635&selectedindex=42&ajaxhist=0&vt=4&eim=8,3,4,2,1,6&sim=11

MiniMoon Wed 15-May-19 20:29:40

Meant to say, we get them in our garden, they self seed from somewhere nearby.

shandi6570 Wed 15-May-19 20:38:20

Sounds lovely Gonegirl, well worth trying. Our grass is more moss these days but i do keep a patch of wilderness at the end of the garden, helps hide the scrap yard that OH has accumulated. Not very pretty but the insects and bees love it.

shysal Thu 16-May-19 07:36:44

I seem to remember that evening primrose has narrower leaves, but perhaps there are different types.

Someone told me the other day that it was not good to remove dandelions, which I do in the lawn before they go to seed. Apparently they are the first source of pollen for the insects. I do have a small wild area so don't feel guilty.

Resurgam123 Thu 16-May-19 07:45:19

A weed???

gillybob Thu 16-May-19 07:53:17

Someone told me the other day that it was not good to remove dandelions

I wish someone had told my DH shysal he is the original dandelion exterminator ! Forever digging little pot holes in the lawn. A wetty bed or two really doesn’t bother me.

Elegran Thu 16-May-19 08:39:33

"before they go to seed" is the difficult bit with dandelions. One minute there are a few cheery golden suns in between plants, the next there are fluffy clocks sending their seed parachutes to colonise the whole garden. Maybe we should be blanching the young leaves under flowerpots and using them in salads, as our ancestors used to? Then they'd be welcome.

Resurgam123 Thu 16-May-19 08:57:15

I was nelliemoser.

My little grandsons spend a lot of time blowing dandelions fortunately in my daughters garden the other side of the peak district.