www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I pulled a hemp agrimony plant from a large wild stand a couple of weeks ago (I know, I shouldn't have..), brought it home and stuck it in a pot. I thought there was sufficient root stock to take hold although the tip of the root was left behind when I pulled it, but the leaves wilted and died, and soon after most of the stem did as well. I removed the dead stuff leaving a stalk about eight inches high that still appears to have some green left in it, and I've watered it in the hope that there's life. Have I botched it, or will it spring into life next year?

It might well do Mike. The leaves and stems die off in the winter anyway.
If yours dies, you can have a root of mine when it sprouts new growth in the spring.

Denise

Brill. Thanks, Denise.

Gosh,,,how big are your gardens? I have to draw the line at Hemp Agrimony, and most Thistles. These plants are ok if you have a big wild patch, but forget them in a normal garden. Throw the seeds over on the neighbours.

Stick a big pot on the patio and you'd be surprised what you can grow. At least I hope so, I'm still at the learning stage....

Likewise, I hope it will grow for you but if it doesn't then I am sure I could pull a bit up from my garden and you send it on to you next year.

It is a big plant but I love it and it is a real draw where insects are concerned.

Hemp Agrimony is a plant for wild places. If you plant it in a pot on the patio it will seed everywhere, and you will have it everywhere. The same goes for many types of thistle. If you are a gardener with a medium sized, or small garden, don't even think about these plants. Ragwort is the same, i have that myself, but don't allow it to seed,,, you have to watch it constantly. I recently learned a serious lesson with Orange Hawkweed. The Dandelion is a case in point,,,,, see the flower,,cut it off. It will still seed, because it's a wild flower. This plant has growth inhibitors in it, that work on adjacent species, so that it can flourish. Some plants are meant to be wild, and cannot be controlled in a 'garden'.

I just pull out what I don't want, same as with the red campion and ox eyed daisies.

susie said

I just pull out what I don't want

With some of these plants,,,that's a lot of pulling, which is time more usefully spent on butterfly photography. In my view. I am a gardener tho!

Sorry Zonda, but I agree with Susie.
Wild flowers are a much better nectar source than cultivated ones, and more wild flowers = more butterflies (including Comma )
My "butterfly border" is just a collection of wild flowers, and I do very well with them.

Denise

Denise wrote:Sorry Zonda, but I agree with Susie.
Wild flowers are a much better nectar source than cultivated ones, and more wild flowers = more butterflies (including Comma )
My "butterfly border" is just a collection of wild flowers, and I do very well with them.

Denise

I'd agree Denise. I have oxeye daisies, knapweed, devis bit scabious in and they get more attention than the marigolds and some other plants that are not wild plants.

My wildlife garden does well too. It's a question of compromise. I encourage all wild plants, but some are beyond my acreage.

I bet your garden is very beautiful, Zonda.

I suppose I am lucky (if you can call it that) in that I have a small garden so it isn't hard to keep control of what I have here by a bit of weeding now and then. Mind you, I positively like having a profusion of plants growing in a disorderly fashion and I just leave them too it and only try to keep the edges tidy. I imagine that if you had a larger garden it would become a tremendous amount of work and, as you rightly say, that is time that could better be spent butterflying!

The hemp agrimony has really taken off this year and is growing in big clumps so I am hoping it will pull in plenty of insects later in the year. To stop it from all flowering at once I have cut one large patch back to six inches high in the hope that this will delay its flowering (plus it was shading the vitex bush and this appears to be struggling a bit so I hope the sunlight will help).