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Posted by Rachel (U15171086) on Friday, 2nd March 2012
I'm an absolute novice gardener and need help identifying these bushy clumps of bulbs that are springing up everywhere in my garden please.
I moved to this house last summer and the garden has big moist borders, and a postage size piece of grass. I cleared the borders of snow berry bush and clumps of this this furry leaved plant with little blue flowers. (any help in identifying that also much appreciated!).
The snow berry seems pretty much dead as I attacked the roots with a fork, the furry blue thing now only reappears in isolated patches, but now I've got big bushy clumps of this bulb growing up everywhere. There's no flowers on it yet and some of the bulbs are tiny, others growing to the size of golf balls. The leaves are thicker than daffodils and shorter. The leaves are shiny green. This stuff seems to like growing up through things I've planted; it's roots are short, but it's bulb sprouting bits are about 30cm deep in the ground.
I thought I cleared all of the borders in the autumn as I forker up all the soil. ...like I say, I'm an absolute novice...can't believe how quickly weeds grow!
Any advice is much appreciated.
Can you post a link to a photo?
It would help to see them.
Hi Rachel,
They could be bluebells. Bluebell bulbs have a white skin on them rather than the brown skin of daffodils.
I'm a bit flummoxed by 'golf ball size' but I'll 'ave a punt at Grape Hiascinths !
Cheers, Tony.
Don't think they can be bluebells - they don't flower for a month or two yet. Are you sure they are bulbs? Have you lifted one? They could be muscari. Mine are all coming into flower now. They can spread rapidly through seeding. Google for 'muscari' and have a look at the pictures.
Sorry, read your posting too quickly. They could well be Spanish bluebells.
Here is a picture of the bulbs.
"furry leaved plant with little blue flowers". Are you sure this is not pulmonaria (lungwort)? It self seeds freely in my garden. The leaves are furry and slightly spotty and the flowers start blue and eventually turn pink.
, in reply to message 6.
Posted by Joe_the_Gardener (U3478064) on Saturday, 3rd March 2012
Look like Spanish bluebells, which can be a pain because they spread everywhere, and also because they hybridise with the native bluebell. They are the very devil to get rid of; persistent digging out will succeed after three years or so, and glyphosate will help. If you dig them out, put them in the dustbin rather than where they will end up being spread even further.
Joe
I suspect the "furry leafed plant with little blue flowers" may be alkanet, which can become very invasive and quite difficult to get rid of. Does it have leaves rather like foxgloves? If it is alkanet, dig it out at every opportunity!
Thank you so much for all your replies.
I've now taken photos of the offending plants, but can't work out how to post them on this forum.
Does anyone know how I can upload a photo to my message?
Thank you once again,
Rachel
I posted this link the other day
Once again, thank you all for your replies.
Pottiepam- thank you but I don't think it is bluebella as the leaves have no white skin.
koala-girl, thank you but it's definately not this pulmonaira as the photo you linked is quite pretty; this stuff is thick and furry!
Globetrotter- oh no!! it might be that alkanet stuff, but I can't be totally sure as when i see it I'm digging it up, and not letting it grow like the alkanet photos on google images. I've just been outside and this horrible furry stuff is spreading everywhere!
Thank you very much -thedogcody- for your help with uploading photos.
Here's links to photos of the bulb I need identifying:
And to the furry blue plant:
Thank you so much for all your help.
I'm hoping it is the giant hyacinth that Tony predicts as that sounds quite nice
Rachel
Clumps of bulbs look like bluebell foliage to me as has been previously indicated-when they flower you can then decide if you want too keep them but they do increase.
They look like bluebells to me too. I had a bad experience with bluebells in the garden where I used to live. They had taken over and however much I dug them up there were never any less each spring. They even started pushing there way up through the tarmac on the path.
I agree - bluebells. They are best removed from around plants as they will choke them out.
I have the furry leaved blue flowered plant, it must have a tap root because every year I dig it out and it comes back again. I would also like to know the name.
Your second pictures (of the furry-leafed plant with blue flowers) definitely look like alkanet. Dig them out whenever possible, and/or spray persistent growing leaves with glyphosate (eg. Roundup), being careful to avoid the spray getting on to any plants you want to retain.
Thanks for the name, I will try to dig it out again but it has made its home next to a Photinia.
Could the bulb be wild garlic? Thre is a derelict church on my way to work that is swamped with it and the leaves looks very much like the ones you posted.
For some examples here is some google pics
Hi,
Your photos could have been taken in my back garden. Mine too has masses of these, bulbs I'd say are almost definitely Spanish bluebells, and you’ll have a carpet of blue in a few weeks’ time which is lovely. However, they’re invasive and ditto the info above re native bluebells.
I also have the other plant/ weed, which I can't remember the name of but is related to comfrey. I put the leaves on the compost and just keep cutting it back or digging out where possible. I don't put the roots on the compost as I can't remember or not if they survive the composting process.
This link gives further info on Comfrey, and I think might be the site where I got the info on whatever the plant is.
Getting rid of Spanish bluebells can be very tricky. Pulling them up doesn't work because they readily produce baby bulbs and self seed like mad. I have got rid of them by using glyphosate in a hand spray. This is a good time to zap them, as the leaves are shooting up but a lot of plants are still dormant with no green growth, so won't be hamed by the glyphosate. The leaves are glossy and weedkiller tends to run off them, so you need to add a few drops of washing up liquid that acts as a wetting agent.
On another note, MIL had an invasion of celandine in her borders and lawn last year. I zapped the ones in the border with glyphosate in March / April, and the ones in the lawn with Verdone Extra. I also removed any flowers to make sure they wouldn't seed. There are quite a few seedlings emerging this spring, possibly ones I missed or from seed that is two or more years old, so they are goiing to get the same treatment. It's war, and I am winning, but it make take another year or two!
Just like to say we don`t all have the same opinions on spanish bluebells and green alkanet.
I love them both, especially the shade of blue that the alkanet flower has.
I agree about Alkanet.
As for Spanish Bluebells, although I think they are big and brassy, I know others like them, and I wouldn't mind at all except that they hybridise very aggressively with the native bluebell and in the offspring the Spanish bluebell is dominant, so in time our native bluebell will disappear as 'garden escapes' of the Spanish ones will take over in our woodlands.
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