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Sun, Jul 1, 12 at 20:47
| SO I feel like this is a waste of time but it sure has neat leaves!
18" long and 6" wide radiating from center with no sign of flowers. Probably a weed .... |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Looks like a Symphytum. It will get much bigger than it is now. |
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- Posted by fatamorgana Zone 5/6 (My Page) on Sun, Jul 1, 12 at 20:57
| It's elecampane, Inula helenium. The seed is wind blown so they can spring up unbidden. In the right place they are stunning. They are a tall plant (mine get 6'+) and have large attractive leaves and yellow flowers. The root goes half way to China so if it is not moved when young and tiny, it is virtually untransplantable. FataMorgana |
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| Aha! Well that would make sense as the prior owners apparently were big into herbal remedies! Farther back in the picture is a Lovage plant that took a bit of research to identify but it is stunning! Thanks so much - I will await the flowers!!! |
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| Yes, it is surrounded by herbs so clearly your predecessors had a herb garden going there. There are Chives and Mint as well as the Lovage. Looks like you have inherited some nice and useful plants. |
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| Oh we certainly have! I have spent the last few months trying to identify then separate as the house had been empty for a bit! ....getting there...! Those are just a few of the herbs - so many varieties, I am getting quite the education! |
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- Posted by fatamorgana Zone 5/6 (My Page) on Mon, Jul 2, 12 at 22:04
| Herb gardens are a lot of fun. With an herb garden in mind, the plant may also be a Symphytum as bboy suggested. When the plants are young, elecampane and comfrey (aka Symphytum) do look very similar. Neither has smooth leaves, but comfrey has a scratchy, unpleasant feel to the foliage. Comfrey has small bell-like flowers and elecampane has yellow daisy-like flowers. Either way, they are nice plants to have. FataMorgana |
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| I don't think it's an Inula at all, the basal leaves of those are quite different. |
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| I agree with bboy's initial suggestion. It looks to me like comfrey (Symphytum officinale). It's a pretty common plant around old farmhouses as it's an old medicinal herb. I have memories that it should only be used externally since it has some toxic properties. It has bluish flowers and the leaves should feel a bit rough or hairy. It will spread unmercifully and is difficult to get rid of, so I would enclose it in some type of root barrier and weed out any seed-grown plants. |
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- Posted by fatamorgana Zone 5/6 (My Page) on Wed, Jul 4, 12 at 12:21
| I've read that comfrey only spreads when you transplant it or dig around it - and that has been my experience. I've had comfrey in the gardens for 10 years and it hasn't spread once - other than a new plant I purposely started from a piece of root. I've also never had any seedlings take - and I do not have one of the sterile, supposedly well-behaved garden varieties. Different growing conditions can make for a wide range of results. I do grow both comfrey and elecampane. I find the leaves are very similar early in the season but elecampane quickly out-sizes comfrey. Both plants loose that basal rosette nature (as in the OP's picture) when they are are ready to bloom. Looking closer, the veining in the leaves of the OP's plant do appear to be more comfrey-like but I went out into my gardens and took some pix for the OP to compare to his plant. ElecampaneFlower
A young plant that planted itself which hasn't been taken out yet. It will quickly outsize the mature echinacea (2-3') behind it.
Leaves on the flower stalk. Can see the velvet nature of the reverse-side of the leaves and the lighter color.
Leaves can easily get 2-3'.
Leaf - Reverse
ComfreyFlower - mostly past here, a few beat up flowers left.
Leaf- they are scratchy to the touch and at longest, maybe 1'.
Leaf Reverse
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| I don't know Inula well but I do know Comfrey. I'm not persuaded this is Comfrey. |
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| I am thinking this is comfrey - the leaves are not toothed, there is no stalk, scratchy to the touch. My pic looks just like the leaf you show FataMorgana! Just larger!!! |
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| mmmm - maybe. This latest pic doesn't look as farinaceous as the first one. |
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- Posted by fatamorgana Zone 5/6 (My Page) on Thu, Jul 5, 12 at 20:53
| J0hns0n5- Very cool. If your comfrey plant doesn't bloom this season, it will next year. The bell-like flowers are dainty and quite lovely. They are a favorite of bumblebees - which are very fun to watch and even pet when they are bottoms-up in a flower. I like watching bumbles more than butterflies. ;) FataMorgana |
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