Thank you all for your help. I have googled and to confirm nutcutlet's theory it is valeriana officinalis. It must have been lurking in the compost of an achillea I planted which has now been buried beneath it now! My two cats so far haven't shown interest but they do in valerian tea which is made of the root I believe.
If anyone wishes to grow it you will require a fair amount of space in terms of height and width. Its foliage started growing last year but this year has shot up and produced flowers. I think it's a bit like a Marmite plant - you either love it or hate it!
I just love it, by the way ... wild valerian grows all along the hedgegrows and roads in my area - very pretty this time of the year ... later the stalks turn a pinkish red which is nice as well ...
Posts
Thank you all for your help. I have googled and to confirm nutcutlet's theory it is valeriana officinalis. It must have been lurking in the compost of an achillea I planted which has now been buried beneath it now! My two cats so far haven't shown interest but they do in valerian tea which is made of the root I believe.
If anyone wishes to grow it you will require a fair amount of space in terms of height and width. Its foliage started growing last year but this year has shot up and produced flowers. I think it's a bit like a Marmite plant - you either love it or hate it!
If you can promise me it's not luring every cat from the neighbourhood into your garden to do nefarious deeds, I might reconsider ....
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I've got lots Dove, never noticed any feline interest but there aren't a lot of cats around here.
In the sticks near Peterborough
cats seem to be fascinated by its roots ... so if you do not want to attract them, don´t disturb those ...
I just love it, by the way ... wild valerian grows all along the hedgegrows and roads in my area - very pretty this time of the year ... later the stalks turn a pinkish red which is nice as well ...