Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Help identifying more weeds!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Help identifying more weeds!

    I'm interested in knowing exactly what's growing out of my garden, partly out of pure interest, partly because I want to learn to identify edible weeds, and partly because it's helpful when gardening to know what weeds are growing, because it helps you figure out the soil condition (which is even more important when you're doing container gardening, because you get more stress!) I have quite a few that I'm not sure of, so I thought I'd ask. I used this site: http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/weedlf.htm because it has a lot of UK weeds (which will be similar to what we have here), but some are tricky for me.

    Plant 1, growing next to my rosemary, stevia and more chickweed. This pot gets dryer than the others because it's smaller, and also the rosemary and stevia are moisture suckers. I'm pretttty sure it's wood sorrel. It's grown in my garden before and has yellow flowers, and there's a variety that has reddish leaves like the site above does, but I want to know others' thoughts on this:


    Plant 2:


    Plant 3...I guess this isn't that helpful, as it's a seedling, but I couldn't find a larger one:


    Plant 4:


    Plant 5..this grows like crazy, and I especially want to know what it is because it seems to grow well in pots where I struggle to grow anything else. It's also irritatingly invasive. I pluck it out and then days later, it looks like this again:


    Plant 6...this one also sprouts up absolutely everywhere. Any soil, any dampness. Pull it out, it seems to come back:


    Plant 7...this is the only thing that will grow in this pot:


    Plant 8....may be nipplewort, but not sure:


    Plant 9....thought it was dandelion, but the leaves are kind of different and it doesn't seem to be getting any flowers:


    I'm really interested in learning about plants here...I know about a lot at home, but I'm half the world away from there. I might take a course (some of the local nature and environmental societies offer day courses on local plants), but for now I thought I'd ask here.

    #2
    Re: Help identifying more weeds!

    They all look familiar, but I don't know what they all are.

    I think that no. 6 is alfalfa, no. 8 looks like some type of lettuce, and no. 9 is almost certainly dandelion - does it bleed bitter white juice when you nick it?
    Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Help identifying more weeds!

      Plant 1 is sorrel. Plant 9 sorta looks like a dandelion in my mind too, but my other guess would be thistle.

      With plant 5 I'm not sure what I'm supposed to look at.
      my etsy store
      My blog


      "...leave me curled up in my ball,
      surrounded by plush, downy things,
      ill prepared, but willing,
      to descend."

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Help identifying more weeds!

        Plant 5 is the long-leaf ones with the little flowers. There's a half-dying strawberry plant in the pic as well.

        Edit: It could be possible that plant 8 IS some kind of lettuce. I plant lettuce quite often and have planted mixed varieties in the past, and they tend to reappear everywhere (even where I didn't plant any). I don't remember planting any kind like that, but it could be from some mix at some point.
        Last edited by DanieMarie; 01 Jun 2012, 05:50.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Help identifying more weeds!

          I'm pretty certain it's not thistle, unless it's some variety I'm not familiar with (which is very possible). The thistle I'm painfully aware of has spiney leaves even when it's quite small.
          Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Help identifying more weeds!

            That's what I thought. What color are the blossoms?
            my etsy store
            My blog


            "...leave me curled up in my ball,
            surrounded by plush, downy things,
            ill prepared, but willing,
            to descend."

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Help identifying more weeds!

              #9 could be red or Italian dandelion. Looks almost, but not quite, exactly like dandelion only w/rhubarb-red stems.
              The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Help identifying more weeds!

                Also, you are right on your wood sorrel. There are two main wood sorrel varieties--yellow and pink, and they are called yellow wood sorrel or pink wood sorrel. There are other members of their genus as well--Oxalis. Another plant, sorrel, is more of a lettuce-type plant, Rumex acetosa.

                6 looks sort of like burnweed...but burnweed, I'm pretty sure is native to the US. I'm not sure of the species name, but there might be a related species in Europe. Also, there are some similar species here in the US that I'm not certain of either, unless its flowering.

                7 looks like more than one plant...so I'm confused.

                I think Perze is right on your dandelion--there are actually a handful of dandelion species, and even more related lool-alikes. Its hard to determine exactly what it is from the leaves, without a key of some sort.

                2 and 5, nothing in particular is coming to mind...but 2 looks familiar, and I think you are right that 8 might be a nipplewort--you might check this page out too http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/weedlf.htm
                Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                sigpic

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Help identifying more weeds!

                  Haha the link you posted is the same one I posted :P

                  I do know about sorrel...I had sheep's sorrel growing in my garden before I knew what it was. Unfortunately, I pulled all of it and didn't eat it (it's supposed to be tasty). If it comes back, I'll know for next time though!

                  Thanks for your input so far everyone! I'll check the maybe-dandelion and see what the leaves do when I pick them.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Help identifying more weeds!

                    I'm also now realizing that I forgot which pots I planted mixed lettuce in this year. 4 -may- be a kind of the lettuce, but I'll have to look at the package. The others definitely are not (though maybe 8 could be), but the pot that 4 is in is definitely in the region of pots I planted mixed lettuce in.

                    I'm also wondering if 6 might be Sweet William...I'm not sure how invasive it is. I planted it purposely way back. It's apparently a biennial and only flowers in its second year, and when just the leaves grew, I pulled some of it only to realize that maybe it was that. It's growing a couple of places in my garden, so maybe it got seeds there? I can't remember what it looked like as a seedling. I might leave a couple of them and see what they do (if they flower, or if they flower next year)...I quite like the plant, and it attracts bees. If it's invasive though it might get a bit annoying, sort of like the snap dragons I planted one year (and have never planted again because they just come back on their own, and come back in every single container in the garden as well). The only thing is that these are slightly fuzzy leaves, and I don't remember the Sweet William being fuzzy...

                    Plant 9 had a milky secretion come out of the leaves when I plucked them...that's a pretty good indicator it's dandelion, right?
                    Last edited by DanieMarie; 01 Jun 2012, 09:17.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Help identifying more weeds!

                      Originally posted by DanieMarie View Post
                      Haha the link you posted is the same one I posted :P
                      lol...I copied and pasted the wrong link, and now I can't find the one I was going to post in my history..........I've had about a hundred pages up today, since I'm writing a blog post...
                      Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                      sigpic

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Help identifying more weeds!

                        Have you ruled out willow herb for 6? In the UK, it is one of our most common early invaders of arrid land and one species in particular, the rosebay, is seen all along our railway network. When I lived at my mum's we used to get a few varieties and one looks a lot like 6. I think sweet william forms neater little bushes of leaves as it grows, although I'm not too familiar with it.

                        We definitely get 5 in our pots too. I can't remember what it is, but I bet my mum knows. I'll show her the photo when I next see her, if it is still unidentified by then!
                        夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Help identifying more weeds!

                          It could be willow herb (fireweed for the Americans)...the leaves look about right. I'll have to wait and see when the flowers bloom...right now there are little buds on them but no flowers yet. They could be white or pink, not sure yet!

                          Edit I was wondering if willow herb was 5...but maybe it's 6!

                          If you could as your mum what 5 is (if no one else knows) that would be helpful...it's super invasive!
                          Last edited by DanieMarie; 01 Jun 2012, 10:58.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Help identifying more weeds!

                            Will do! I just went out to feed my roommate's rabbit and noticed we have 5 growing out of the back step. Although it might not be the same plant: on closer inspection, ours has a cigarette butt growing out of it. ^^
                            夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Help identifying more weeds!

                              No 1 looks like oxalis - if so get rid of it before it takes over. I'm sorry my eyesight isn't up to identifying much these days. Agree about the willow herb though.
                              www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


                              Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X