Strange roadside plant

Wearb

I have photographed this plant on the roadside near my home. I have placed my walking stick beside it for scale. Does anyone know what it is. It has variegated leaves. Is it some form of deadly nightshade?

lucylu

It looks like at St Johns Wort or hypericum

Wearb

Thanks lucylu. I have just looked up st johns worth and that is what it most likely is. Do you know if variegated leaves are common with this plant?

looksee

I have a couple of hypericums in my garden which I think were self seeded and are variagated like that. Should say were, one of them died over the winter but the other is still going.

Wearb

How would I go about propagating this plant without damaging it? Will the seeds produce the same sort of colouring as the parent plant?

lucylu

Wearb wrote: »

Thanks lucylu. I have just looked up st johns worth and that is what it most likely is. Do you know if variegated leaves are common with this plant?

I haven't seen a variegated variety before. Im not sure how common it is

jezko

http://www.paghat.com/stjohn.html
Hypericum androsaemon 'Glacier'

Did you notice has a local farmer/Person sprayed a selective weed killer (Dockban, 24D Nettleban etc... ) I am wondering about the contorted stems...

Interesting looking plant ... you could try some cuttings... Matter of Interest where is it :-)

looksee

I'd say they would grow from seed, as I am pretty sure I didn't plant mine, though I did have a standard green hypericum at one time. They are not all that vigorous and are more of an oddity than a bushy shrub.

casey junior

Could you not just dig it out and plant it in your garden?

jezko

By trying to move the plant Now, you would most likely kill it... Taking Cuttings and or Seed (the Link I posted stated they mostly bred true with Seed) you can make more plants and not harm the parent plant too seriously

Sonnenblumen

Wearb wrote: »

Thanks lucylu. I have just looked up st johns worth and that is what it most likely is. Do you know if variegated leaves are common with this plant?

Could be H.triclor?

Wearb

Sorry for neglecting my original post and thanks for all your help. Ithought I would get an email for every post to my question.

I had been away on holidays and came home to find it had been cut down along with everything else on the roadside hedgerow by one of those mechanical tractor mounted hedge trimmers. I can still see the remaining couple of centimetres of stems. I think I will try splitting the remaining root clump and leaving half and planting half in my garden. What do you think of this plan?
btw it is on a rural road near Mount Leinster.

gardenman77

Splitting might end killing the plant as it is more a woody plant than a perennial. Saying that if there have been some self - rooting runners coming off it, dig these up and you have a plant.
This type of variegation is reasonably common< I come across one most years. If you leave it until the September there should be some nice hardened shoots coming up. Cuttings from these root quite easily.

Hypericum tricolor, as stated is a very nice brother-in law but very sensitive to frost damage.

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