Last one (for now!). This is popping up everywhere under trees along a West facing border and again I have no idea what it is and whether to try to stamp it out now or if it might be another little gem to nurture?
Arum maculatum ...... Lords & Ladies, Jack in the Pulpit, Cuckoo Pint and all sorts of other names ... some quite rude because of the shape of the flower that follows the leaves. I love them but they are quite an invasive wild flower so not for every garden .......... that being said they're a right PITA to get rid of. Thankfully the leaves die down in late spring leaving just the seedheads which have red berries in the autumn. They're very attractive but don't let children touch them unsupervised as they're toxic. I was fascinated when I was a child and was shown how to dissect the flower to reveal the way the flower lures insects into its inside to be trapped there, resulting in pollination.
Probably Arum maculatum (Lords and Ladies, Cuckoo Pint, etc. etc.). Opinons vary as to whether it's a weed. Certainly a native wild-flower. It has tubers, and birds like to spread the seed. It gets its leafy period over quite quickly (probably designed to do it before the trees above get into leaf and cut out all the light), and the flowers are followed by spikes of red berries (which you might have seen in the countryside). It's started appearing in my garden recently - haven't decided yet whether to let it be, or maybe remove the berries before they're ripe to prevent more spread. I grow some other members of the Aroid family, with which it could get confused when only the leaves are visible.
They're very attractive but don't let children touch them unsupervised as they're toxic.
I remember the awful shame when it transpired that my son (aged four) had encouraged some visiting children to try arum berries in our garden... oh the embarrassment. No-one was harmed, but the parents never invited us back.
I have this and was pleased to see that it has spread - it is towards the back of a border in front of an outhouse so I don't mind it being a bit wild. The leaves have practically gone by the time my Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus' gets going. I have Arum italicum marmoratum, which is much more showy, in another North facing woodlandy bed and that is looking very pleasing at the moment. So yes - keep it!
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I was fascinated when I was a child and was shown how to dissect the flower to reveal the way the flower lures insects into its inside to be trapped there, resulting in pollination.
The leaves are sometimes spotted.
https://www.first-nature.com/flowers/arum-maculatum.php
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1050489/nightmare-weed-plant#latest
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.