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Wildflower or Weed?

bob2seabob2sea Posts: 2
in Plants
My workplace has allowed me to plant a wildflower garden within our depot :) Thanks to all the rain and sun things are coming along nicely with lots of little shoots now appearing. However, I have just noticed this little fella. A lot more advanced than everything else in the patch and looks familiar to me as a weed, but as I'm no expert, I thought I'd check with you guys. For extra info, it is covered in lots of little white hairs.
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Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited May 2021
    What a lovely idea 😊 

    It’s Common Hogweed (not the dangerous Giant one). 
    I spent many childhood hours picking it for pet rabbits and the family goat. 

    A great flower for pollinators. 

    By the way, many or even most wildflowers are weeds ... and vice versa. 
    Beauty is in the eye of the beholder 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • bob2seabob2sea Posts: 2
    Ah ok. Our main aim was to help the bees so if it’s good for pollinators then I’ll leave it. Thanks for the info. 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Hoverflies love it. 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ShepherdsBarnShepherdsBarn Posts: 401
    Common hogweed can still pose a threat to some people and is difficult to eradicate - it spreads easily and I would get rid of it asap, if I were you!
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    A threat?  How?  It can cause a bit of rash on some sensitive skins. So can many plants ... I knew a child who got a skin rash from playing on newly cut grass. 

    💡 I know ... let’s just exterminate everything 🙄 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ShepherdsBarnShepherdsBarn Posts: 401
    The place for common hogweed is on roadside verges.
    Exterminate everything ... yeah, wow what a great idea 🙄 .
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited May 2021
    The OP is creating a wildflower patch for pollinators ... Common Hogweed is a wildflower that’s great for hoverflies and many other insects. It’s the food plant of the Yelliw-spotted Lance-wing caterpillars https://www.norfolkmoths.co.uk/index_mobile.php?bf=4780&cat=micro 

    When the taller plants on roadside verges are often cut back before they’ve flowered, let alone produced the seeds which feed birds and small mammals, and producing more plants in future years, their inclusion in wildflower gardens is important and a creative example of gardening for wildlife. 😊 🐝 🦋 🐛 🐞 🕷 


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ShepherdsBarnShepherdsBarn Posts: 401
    Choose wisely ... there are so many alternatives. 😊
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Some caterpillars don’t have a lot of choice.  The alternative food plant of the Yellow-spotted Lance-wing is Angelica sylvestris ... a much bigger plant than Common Hogweed.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    It's fine. I would let it be.
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