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What is this plant?

donothingdonothing Posts: 10
in Plants
Hi, so you lovely people were quick to identify some Welsh poppies last time I posted - something which the Google Lens app thoroughly failed to do - so I thought to post another plant that Google has failed to identify, offering various suggestions from dogfennel to sweet wormwood to yarrow!
So far the plants in the picture are only about 15-20cm tall.
They are growing in a plot of land I scattered wildflower seeds around, and I can see some dame's rockets, sweet alyssums, virginia stock, poppies, etc. growing but this one plant is also there and I don't know what it is.
If this plant is good for wildlife (any insects, birds, etc.) or the wider ecosystem in any way I'll leave it be, but if it's a solely-wind-pollinated invasive weed then I'll either remove it or move it somewhere else.
Thank you!

PS - what are your tips for managing clover? I don't want to rip them all out because they are good for pollinators + are nitrogen-fixers, so for now I am letting them be and only trimming as little as I can any sections that grow too close to other plants I've put. Also, it's now June and none of the clover scattered around my garden has flowered yet? RHS plant finder says they flower between May-October?

Posts

  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    If you pinch the leaves, is there a distinctive smell?
  • donothingdonothing Posts: 10
    Posy said:
    If you pinch the leaves, is there a distinctive smell?
    @Posy yes actually! It's difficult to describe, it's not exactly "fragrant", but it's more of a sort-of sweet, almost medicinal smell? But it's not a bad smell. But when I then smelled my fingers afterwards, it was less sweet, sort of, and a bit more pungent, maybe, I guess?
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    I'm wondering about achillea but I'm not sure. Flowers would help!!!
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Achillea is yarrow, although I (and maybe others) tend to use yarrow for the low-growing white-flowered weedy form and achillea for the taller cultivated forms, so the app might have it right(ish) this time. It does niff a bit - I find the smell quite unpleasant.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • dondattlerdondattler Posts: 11
    If it's wild yarrow it probably won't have it's white & yellow flowers for at least a week or 2. (June-November flowering period). It accumulates nutrients and has medicinal properties in small quantities.
  • dondattlerdondattler Posts: 11
    Oh and about the clover. If it's your lawn, It's said that lowering your mower's deck will actually make the clover spread faster. Raising the deck is more effective.

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