It's become quite common in the west of Ireland with it's very wet and mild winters. The funicular umbrella like shape leaves are perfect water gatherers. They die back in the winter and wither to nothing when there's a dry hot summer. They soon recover when the Autumn rains arrive. I believe they are pretty common in Scotland too.
Rather like Japanese knotweed and Rhododendrons. A lot of these plants have escaped from large country estates. They were often planted for game cover. They could also have been washed up on Irish shores from the Gulf Stream.
It's also got a more pedigree garden cousin called Gunnera Manicata. This is sold in garden centres but it's also considered invasive like Gunnera Tinctoria by the EU.
Do you have Gunnera growing in your garden or near you? I remember JayCee and P having a fine specimen or specimens in their Isle of Man garden.
I like them for their architectural shape and the look like something out of Jurassic Park.
Yes we do. It grows along the banks of the river, and it is a battle we fight at the rentals. We chop it back and it quickly takes over again. Two of the people who rent from us are kayakers, and want access to the river. That darned weed is a problem. The stuff here grows tall. In one case, taller than the house itself. I am not sure we are talking about the same thing though. Ours is called japanese knotweed but it is called polygorum cuspidatum, and it belongs to the buckwheat family. The leaves are different. We might be calling a different plant by the same name. Trying to research it, I discovered that the japonica along my own house is called knotweed and is an invasive. They are low shrubs with flowers in the spring. Three types of knotweed at this point. I'm afraid to look any further, lest I find plants shooting up out the computer keyboard.
ReplyDeleteJapanese Knotweed is a big problem in Britain and Ireland Debby. I laughed at your image of those Triffid like plants shooting up out of your computer keyboard.😊
DeleteThanks Dave. Yes, we do have a large specimen growing bang in the middle of our boggy patch. It loves the permanently wet soil down there. I am not sure which of the two varieties it is though. It dies down to a clump over the winter but grows quite large when the weather perks up again. They do need quite a bit of space!
ReplyDeleteI think yours is Gunnera Manicata JayCee. A much more refined species and more likely to be found in large country estate gardens.
DeleteIs the Gunnera plant named after Arsenal F.C.? We don't allow any Gunnera in our garden as Arsenal stole away the FA Cup victory we deserved in 2014. We may never get another chance.
ReplyDeleteP.S. When under control, they are stunning plants.
They are stunning architectural plants YP. I think The Gunners are named after Woolwich Arsenal. Which was an ammunitions factory in world war 1.
ReplyDeleteI have seen them often and am always in two minds about these semi-invasive species. Rhododendrons for example are fine if controlled but if not they can take over whole hillsides and it impacts wildlife - the gorge in the Gwaun Valley near me has been ruined by them.
ReplyDeleteHi The bike shed. Like vegetables most of our plants and trees come from over seas. Some are not too invasive and others are. There are some magnificent Rhododendrons in the grounds of Muckross House in Kerry. However they have caused a lot of problems in Killarney National Park. They need to be controlled to prevent them from being invasive. Thanks.
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