Hello plant lovers!

[Lpymunro]

Hi all, I am a newbie to forums. I have always found answers to gardening woes on forums so never really needed to post anything. However, i have come unstuck with a particular plant that has decided to grow next to my fence. I am totally flummoxed by this plant and I would very much appreciate any help at all in identifying it so I can determine whether it's to keep or not to keep!

Thank all in advance...Lisa

 

[Tetters]

It`s nice that you decided to join us Lisa. Welcome . That has turned up in our garden recently too, and it is one of the figwort family. Whatever you decide I will warn you that it seeds like mad. We have planted some in our wildflower area and will see how it behaves there.

 

[zigs]

Welcome to the forum

Yep, same as our Figwort. Usually grows by rivers but it's chosen to grow in the driest bit of Kent that it can find here

 

[Lpymunro]

Thank you so much for your help!
It's a keeper for me I think.

 

[zigs]

Our pleasure

Just had a look, I took a shot of one of ours a few days ago, not flowering yet.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I was going to say 'Figwort' from the flower but was going to check the leaf, then I saw the other posts. Attractive to wasps, not to the point it is a problem, but curious, you don't usually see wasps visiting flowers.

 

[zigs]

I was going to say 'Figwort' from the flower but was going to check the leaf, then I saw the other posts. Attractive to wasps, not to the point it is a problem, but curious, you don't usually see wasps visiting flowers.

I'll keep an eye open, must be something they like on it. We've had ants going to the tips of the Opuntia's must be secreting something sweet?

This is one of our Figworts today

 

[roadrunner]

I was going to say 'Figwort' from the flower but was going to check the leaf, then I saw the other posts. Attractive to wasps, not to the point it is a problem, but curious, you don't usually see wasps visiting flowers.

Just an FYI post...I have tons of wasps in my yard, you could say that my yard is a wasp sanctuary.

Wasps do visit flowers, but they seem (in my personal observation) like small flowers. I'm always seeing them on flowers of my pokeweed and American Beautybush and other native plants with very small flowers.

However, the most common thing I see wasps doing is hunting for larvae to feed their larvae; I never see them going from one flower to the next like bees, probably because they only feed off the flower for personal food intake and then the rest of the time they're hunting for caterpillars. Apparently their larvae are very hungry and require a lot of caterpillars to grow, because I've never had a problem with Tomato hornworms or any other caterpillar plant damage.

Disclaimer: I seem to be the only Yankee on this thread, so maybe my Yankee wasps are different

 

[zigs]

I'd agree @roadrunner

Disclaimer: I seem to be the only Yankee on this thread, so maybe my Yankee wasps are different

Tee hee Ours run on petrol and yours run on gas

 

[Tetters]

Disclaimer: I seem to be the only Yankee on this thread, so maybe my Yankee wasps are different

The worst wasps I ever encountered lived in Queensland, Oz. I went near a nest at the local open day at a junior school and they attacked me and my family. Evil sods!! They had to empty the school of children whilst the nest was taken care of

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Australia, land of killer creepy crawlies. You must have annoyed them, Tetters, that's what they always say, "They won't hurt you unless you annoy them." As Billy Connolly said "How the f**** do I know what annoys a spider." He has a point, I don't know what is going to upset the missus half the time.

 

[Tetters]

I only walked past them .....not like the time I went behind my daughters shed to retrieve some pots. There was a huge Queensland spider nest in there I`d plainly disturbed, and mummy spider chased me across the grass. My daughter screamed ''run mum, they jump''
so I turned (like wonderwoman) and stood on it. Having previously been hospitalised by a redback bite, I didn`t want to take too many chances.