When I pulled weeds this spring I left these not sure if they were a weed or a flower; so far there is no blooms so if a weed I would like to destroy and plant some flowers in the space they are occupying. Any help would be appreciated. flowerlady ( photo / image / picture from flower1lady2000's Garden )
It looks too healthy to be a desired flower. It probably appreciates the 'free ride' and is holding off flowering as it realizes when it does flower it may be gone. I mark plants getting a free ride with a tag that says 'FR.' Every once and awhile I get a volunteer that birds or the wind have dropped into a bed. However, I would only be guessing with eryngium foetidum. At the plant's height of 8 inches your plant looks a little too tall. Jerry
Hello, your plants resemble mine (at least they do now that mine are greener) http://www.gardenstew.com/plantstew/img ... /35819.jpg Will post an updated snap soon for you to confirm. And yeah, mine's a weed but I like the purplish flowers, so I don't mind growing weeds
It reminds me of obedient plant. No idea if it really is or not. If you bend the stem at a right angle, does it also grow that direction? or does the tip of the plant start stretching back towards the sky?
I haven't tried bending the plant; I am still waiting to see if it has a bloom. The plants are still really pretty despite the long dry spell we have here in North Alabama.
Carolyn, I agree. It looks like it might be obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana). Do the stems have four sides? Kind of like ridges? Obedient plant is a mint relative and has the four sided stems of all mints.
I found the answer; in 2009 I ordered some pink dragon flowers from Michigan Bulb. They did not survive. I later asked for them to be replaced; so this year evidently they have multiplied and become much larger and healthier plants. They have not bloomed yet but I am pretty sure that is what they are. I have some white dragon flowers that I have had for several years but they have never grow as large as these are. I am anxious for the blooms now that I don't think they are a weed. I am still learning as I go along. Thank you, flowerlady
flower1lady--That is great news because you have a very healthy block of them! I just checked the web. It says that Pink dragon flower is obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana). See if the stems are square or have ridges if you twirl them between your fingers
This is the plants since they have bloomed; I think they are very pretty. Looks like I will have some to share next spring. Thank all of you for your help in identifying them. flowerlady Pink dragon flower ( photo / image / picture from flower1lady2000's Garden )
What a nice surprise! So glad they just weren't "weeds". So pretty! I have a similar situation.... waiting to see if the darn things bloom and then ID them. But... they are super healthy and I don't recall planting anything like them... so I've resigned to the fact that they are useless weeds. But I'm holding out hope for something as nice as yours.
flower1lady--How pretty! And what a nice solid block of them! I tried growing them in (I think) too much shade and they were very thin and spread a-l-l over the place. So just a word to the wise, they might be on the aggressive side.
