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Help to identify some plants please
SparklesJD
Posts: 344
in Plants
1. In a shady front garden.
2. In a shady spot of an east-facing garden (it rotated it originally the smaller plant was on the left).
3. In sun (and is it too close to the fruit tree next to it?)
4. In full sun, it's quite spiky, we've pruned it back, not sure who thought it'd be a good choice to go next to a climbing frame...
5. And out of curiosity - thankfully it doesn't shade our garden where it is, though it makes for an ugly view IMO - is this the infamous leylandii?
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The first looks like an aucuba seedling and the purple one is a hebe
That's a start and a bump up
In the sticks near Peterborough
No 2 could be a perennial Lobelia. Mine are just beginning to appear
One or two of these are pretty hard to identify Sparkles--especially pic 2--you'll have to send us another when it comes up more. It looks suspiciously like a weed but could be Centranthus ruber.
The leylandii is a leylandii...
nutcutlet's guesses are what I would guess too for pics 1 & 3
I am not sure what you're asking about in pics 4 & 5 as I can only really see the tree, which is some kind of fruit tree that's had a sucker growing from the graft union which flowers earlier (probably). Looks like a plum to me, and even more speculatively, it might originally have been some sort of espalier form that has been badly neglected.
Things will become clearer with the passage of time...
I think 4 may be a quince if it has spike-like thorns. This is probably the rootstock of a pear tree which was grafted on to it (pears often have 'Quince A' as a rootstock.) As cambridgerose says, the rootstock has been allowed to grow when it sprouted a shoot. If you want to keep the pear, you should cut the quince part off cleanly right where it starts at the bottom.
I thought that originally Bob...but if you look close-up the flowers are wrong for japanese quince and it's very tall and non-twiggy. I don't know what they use for rootstock on plums (anybody)? Could it be a blackthorn?
It's not a Japanese quince CR - I edited my reply while you were typing your reply.
Sparkles, are the thorns real pointy thorns or more like short side shoots? I cannot make any out on the photo.
Thing is that the flowers have a definite prunus look to them, not like a quince or malus/pyrus type of thing.
You got to be quick Bob
The species Pyrus communis have vicious thorns, does that get used for grafting?
In the sticks near Peterborough
Could it be a Sloe
Thanks all! I like to give you a challenge
I think the previous homeowner bunged a load of stuff in and hoped for the best...
How amazing, I didn't notice that only the one 'branch' is flowering! Now you've said it, it's obvious that there's actually two different trees there. Out of interest what will happen eventually if both are allowed to grow? Presumably they'll both deteriorate? It has spiky shoots (so the ends are sharp), rather than spines growing on the branches, if that helps.
Thanks Muddy, I'll leave them for the moment then.
Nut, thanks, I think it's Hebe 'Caledonia' now I've Googled it. The aucuba would make sense, as there's a few of them in neighbouring gardens. It's going to be coming out before it gets much bigger then!