Plant identity!

Tiercel Dave

Hi folks, first time in here. Found this plant in an old garden, Co. Galway. About 6-8 ft tall, clean stems, almost bamboo-like, pendulous flowers. Any idea as to what it might be?......Thanks.

Oldtree

Himilayan honeysuckle aka pheasants eye, lovely plant imo

Delphinium

leycesteria Formosa. It will self seed freely all over the place

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Also called Pheasant Berry. Great attraction for birds in the garden.

Tiercel Dave

Thanks to all, it's growing on the grounds of a 'big house', burned in 1921, so it has survived almost a century without attention. I'll try a few cuttings now that I know what it is. Thanks again.........

looksee

Lovely plant with attractive flowers and good for wildlife...but once you have even looked at it it will grow in your garden. With enthusiasm. Give it a good sized corner to get on with it. Cut it down to ground level annually and ruthlessly pull up any small plants you see!

Edit, well maybe not exactly ground level, that would probably encourage it to send up suckers. But cut it back.

Blondie919

looksee wrote: »

Lovely plant with attractive flowers and good for wildlife...but once you have even looked at it it will grow in your garden. With enthusiasm. Give it a good sized corner to get on with it. Cut it down to ground level annually and ruthlessly pull up any small plants you see!

I have one growing in my garden. Wow! They grow huge! When should I cut it to ground level?

looksee

Any time you like really, they are pretty much unkillable. But you may as well wait until the berries have finished so the birds can eat them and cut it in the spring. However for maximum flowers you might want to leave some recent branches and just prune out the old canes. I have to admit I have never really paid much attention to technical aspects of pruning it, I just slash it down when it starts to annoy me.

carrickbawn

If you Google Himalayan Balsam you might think twice before importing it into your garden.
I am presently trying to eradicate it from my garden after reading up on it.

Blondie919

carrickbawn wrote: »

If you Google Himalayan Balsam you might think twice before importing it into your garden.
I am presently trying to eradicate it from my garden after reading up on it.

Himalayan Balsam is a different plant to the Honeysuckle though.

carrickbawn

Blondie919 wrote: »

Himalayan Balsam is a different plant to the Honeysuckle though.

I'm not taking any chances. I already have a Japanese knotweed problem so a little paranoid now about anything that is very invasive.

carrickbawn

Blondie919 wrote: »

Himalayan Balsam is a different plant to the Honeysuckle though.

I'm not taking any chances. I already have a Japanese knotweed problem so a little paranoid now about anything that is very invasive.

lottpaul

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

Thanks to all, it's growing on the grounds of a 'big house', burned in 1921, so it has survived almost a century without attention. I'll try a few cuttings now that I know what it is. Thanks again.........

Am not sure it would grow from cuttings.
You might be better off looking for a few young plants and digging them up in the autumn or spring. As people have said it seeds everywhere so there should be plenty of small ones around. If not, collect a few ripe seeds and sow them.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

carrickbawn wrote: »

If you Google Himalayan Balsam you might think twice before importing it into your garden.
I am presently trying to eradicate it from my garden after reading up on it.

This is not Himalayan Balsam. I have it in my garden over 40 years. A wonderful structural colourful wildlife friendly plant.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

Thanks to all, it's growing on the grounds of a 'big house', burned in 1921, so it has survived almost a century without attention. I'll try a few cuttings now that I know what it is. Thanks again.........

Dave, it grows readily from seed. Plant up a few berries in a month or so.

looksee

It also grows easily from cuttings. Put a few cuttings in water till they sprout roots then plant out.

looksee

Himalayan Balsam is a very pretty plant with pink flowers but it spreads along waterways and clogs them up.

Blondie919

looksee wrote: »

It also grows easily from cuttings. Put a few cuttings in water till they sprout roots then plant out.

Absolutely it grows from cuttings. I got some from my mam and the cuttings survived a journey of 140km in a motorbike topbox. I planted them in 2015 at it's about 5 foot tall and growing now.

Qwerty?

Blondie919 wrote: »

I have one growing in my garden. Wow! They grow huge! When should I cut it to ground level?

Where in Galway are you based, I would love to get a few cuttings. Or anyone in the mayo area that could give me a few?

Thanks

looksee

Try posting in the seed swap sticky at the top of the forum.