This plant has appeared in a bed and I can't for the life of me recall whether a friend gave it to me. I can't find anything similar online. Does anyone have any clues?? Growing so healthily that I suspect it must be a weed any help gratefully received!
It looks like a plant called Persicaria maculosa.or Polygonum persicaria just to confuse us. I learned about this plant from another member on here. Apparently it is quite variable in description and I believe it is regarded as a weed but someone will be along to give you more detail.
Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
Thanks all. Definitely not a hydrangea Jim7 as it's grown so fast - also a clue that it's a weed as the rest of you have agreed! I followed up the plant names suggested by Ladybird4 - thanks! The leaf is a lot broader than the persicaria sp I have seen photos of. Interestingly there is mention of Polygonum odorata or Vietnamese coriander and I got v excited for a moment as I'm a keen cook of SE Asian food! The photos online are uncannily similar but no scent to the leaf of mine at all. I suspect I will do as fidgetbones7 suggests and pull it out
It is edible and related to buckwheat. It's one of those plants that can vary quite a bit in its appearance, but when you know it as well as I do you know what it is.
It's another of those wild plants I recognise straight away as I hand-hoed many of them out of sugar beet fields on the family farm in my youth.
Last edited: 26 July 2016 16:42:13
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks to you all - off to pull it out. Just one plant and no flowers yet. Sounds like a close escape! This was my first post in the forum and it was really helpful of you all.
any help gratefully received! 
Posts
Looks A bit like a Hydrangea.
It's a foe but I can't remember it's name.
It looks like a plant called Persicaria maculosa.or Polygonum persicaria just to confuse us. I learned about this plant from another member on here. Apparently it is quite variable in description and I believe it is regarded as a weed but someone will be along to give you more detail.
As ladybird says. weed. pull it out before it seeds.
Thanks all. Definitely not a hydrangea Jim7 as it's grown so fast - also a clue that it's a weed as the rest of you have agreed! I followed up the plant names suggested by Ladybird4 - thanks! The leaf is a lot broader than the persicaria sp I have seen photos of. Interestingly there is mention of Polygonum odorata or Vietnamese coriander and I got v excited for a moment as I'm a keen cook of SE Asian food! The photos online are uncannily similar but no scent to the leaf of mine at all. I suspect I will do as fidgetbones7 suggests and pull it out
Last edited: 26 July 2016 16:35:29
As Ladybird says, Persicaria maculosa aka Redshank and lots of other names
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persicaria_maculosa
It is edible and related to buckwheat. It's one of those plants that can vary quite a bit in its appearance, but when you know it as well as I do you know what it is.
It's another of those wild plants I recognise straight away as I hand-hoed many of them out of sugar beet fields on the family farm in my youth.
Last edited: 26 July 2016 16:42:13
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Yay Dove! It was you who taught me about this one. I was wracking my brains trying to remember who it was. Thank you!
I remembered the bit about the sugar beet fields!
Last edited: 26 July 2016 16:49:31
Thanks to you all - off to pull it out. Just one plant and no flowers yet. Sounds like a close escape! This was my first post in the forum and it was really helpful of you all.