Kitchen Garden Forum

Is it a garden plant or a weed? And does it have a flower? I keep spotting small versions growing in the le side gutters near here and wonder whether it's an escapee from a nearby garde. It looks rather similar to mares tails but I don't think it is. I have rescued a small plant from the gutter and planted it in knew of my borders as ai liked the structure but want to be reassured ai haven,t made a mistake for the longer term.

I think it's purple toadflax Linaria purpurea, Primrose. It flowers purplish blue and sometimes also pink and seeds itself all over the place, but the seedlings are easily removed.

I have it in the corner of one of my plots, small purple flowers in think, haven't a clue what it is or how it got into my plot, unless via manure.

Thanks Monika. Yes I Googled it for some photos and it Is definitely Purple toadflax. I remember seeing it now in a nearby front garden so the seeds must have blown out into the road and germinated the layers of dirt which have built up in the gutter (You can tell street cleaning has long disappeared from round here in the government cutbacks!). Apparently the bees love it so I will enjoy having the odd plant in my garden and will pull up surplus plants if they proliferate too quickly.

You're lucky, I can't get it to grow in my garden .I've tried transplants and seeds. It doesn't grow in the wild locally either. It might be a bit too acidic for it.