Anyone know what this is?

It's lovely, whatever it is!

The centre is very tightly packed like a baby cauliflower. I'm going to keep an eye on it every day to see how many more flowers emerge.

Yes, kitty. It's very pretty.

So pretty - you're lucky!
At first I thought some kind of passion flower, but not enough petals.

Its really lovely.
I searched for similar images on Google and it came up with images of African violets!

The flowers are bigger than African violets MissA and a kind of cross between an anemone and a violet.

Merlot You could send a photo to BBC Dig It and they may be able to identify it for you. ([email protected] or you can text 81333 starting the text with the word Radio) The programme is broadcast on Sunday morning & they'll text or email a reply to you.

There are phone apps which will identify plants. I use iplant.

Looks like a type of candelabra primula to me. The flowers are very similar.

Something from the borage family? Literally thousands of species but may be a start.

The i plant app didn't come up with anything I didn't already know about, dragonfly

Definitely not borage - it already grows like a weed in my garden and not a primula either.

It's a mystery.

Looks like it might be a seedling of a shrub called Hebe andersonii. i.pinimg.com/originals/05/02/48/050248c4f86fcac84d92b2fad51f3971.jpg
There are other pictures if you Google it

It reminds me of senacio or euonymus?

Amazing, such a small plant with abundance of flowers. I'll be interested to see what the ID is.

Just reminded me a bit of Eidelweis but the colour is wrong, I’ll watch with interest too.

Hi, me again. I know you’ve said it’s not a primula, but have a look at Primula Capitata Mooreana.
If you click on the image page there are several pictures that look very similar.
Lovely plant.

The flowers look like a pulmonaria to me merlot.
PlantSnap suggested ajuga decumbens, but the leaves don’t look like an ajuga to me.

Thanks, J52 I've had a look at Primula capitata mooreana and so far it's the closest match. There is no stem at all though at the moment, let alone a tall one. I haven't grown lollipop primulas in the past because our soil is very dry and they tend to prefer a moist environment.

Thanks for all your replies. I haven't a clue how it got here but it's so pretty I will nurture it and hopefully be able to propagate some more.

More photos will follow if there are any interesting changes.

Helibore?

Tentatively yours, The Novice Gardener

It looks like a flower to me. (Says the non gardener!) ?

Luckygirl

Definitely not hellebore although they do seed themselves in some unlikely places in our garden.

Plants tend to self seed in places where they are happy to grow so I'll be pleased if it's a primula because then I'll know that particular border is maybe more moisture retentive than some of our other extremely dry ones. Our water table is artificially high thanks to our garden being surrounded by arable farmland so our plants' survival rate in a dry, hot summer is good.

I'll probably discover this is as common as muck in the garden centres now

Well, there are only primroses and hellebores out in the garden right now, so must be one of them?

It looks like an aquilegia , commonly known as granny’s bonnet !!

Pulmonaria? If it is, watch out as the leaves are mildly irritating to the skin. Mine are flowering now, up in Yorkshire... sunny February!

looks a bit like a wood anemone but, having looked it up, that's not right. but it may be a "sport". they're in flower right now too.