What is this bush/tree/plant?

[gentlegreen]

Himalayan nutmeg

I was trying to think what they tasted like ... I'll try again later with this in mind and see if it fits ...

 

[geminisnake]

Leycestaria formosa/ Himalayan Honeysuckle / Himalayan nutmeg / Pheasant Berry
If you want to try them, start slowly and eat them in small quantities, as some people get dodgy stomachs from them, and they can very in taste (from very sweet to very bitter) from plant to plant.

Someone did call it a nutmeg plant years ago and I thought they were winding me up! Oops!! Ta.

 

[gentlegreen]

I tasted the berries again on the way home tonight and I struggled to find anything nutmeggy in them.
The unripe berries were very bitter and the ripe ones almost like a sickly caramel ... not exactly unpleasant, but I felt the need to rinse away the taste afterwards ...

 

[crossthebreeze]

I tasted the berries again on the way home tonight and I struggled to find anything nutmeggy in them.
The unripe berries were very bitter and the ripe ones almost like a sickly caramel ... not exactly unpleasant, but I felt the need to rinse away the taste afterwards ...

I haven't tried them since i had one a few years ago- but i don't think nutmeg either from last time i tried - someone somewhere described them as chocolatey - not sure if thats right either. i'll see if there's any ripe at work tomorrow!

 

[Purdie]

Anyone know what these are? I can't even remember potting them up

 

[gentlegreen]

zinnia ?

(I cheated a bit with Google images )

 

[Purdie]

zinnia ?

(I cheated a bit with Google images )

Tried Google images but it got me nowhere so no worries there Never had zinnias before which explains why I don't recognise it. Still no memory of potting it up but will look out for them next year now. This is probably a hybrid but I love it because it brings butterflies closer to the house.

 

[gentlegreen]

Google images shows they can look a bit like like dahlias, chrysanths and rudbeckias ...
I've never grown them myself for some reason ... and instead got burned more than once by buying arctosises that only opened while I was at work.

 

[Callie]

Zinnias for sure the pink ones I showed some gonna seeds roo but they never came through...probably eaten by hoardes of snails.

 

[Purdie]

I figured it out I think

We were over in March and I always stock up on gardening magazines that always have free seed that I rarely sow. And there was a whole conversation on zinnias on here some time back and I'm pretty sure it inspired me to sow them. It would alsoexplain why I have only 2 plants. I never plant in even numbers but they are probably the only ones that survived and I needed to fill a space
I will dig around for the magazine over the next week or so coz I definitely want more of these next year

 

[ringo]

Yep, they look just like my Zinnias

 

[Callie]

Ok what's this:


Also comes in magenta pink.

Seems like a lovely plant, lots of bright flowers at this time of year, perennial?

 

[gentlegreen]

It looks like a fancy variety of evening primrose - googling suggests Oenothera tetragona which comes in a pink form.
The common or garden one is biennial/annual, but that one is apparently perennial...

... though the flowers look too trumpetty

Even if I'm wrong, it gives me an excuse to post my less than perfect video of a bee struggling with a huge mass of evening primrose pollen sacs stuck to its legs ..

Spoiler: youtube video

 

[two sheds]

I do love potentilla and last year went seed stealing : I now (I think, assuming they are right stolen seeds) have loads of them coming up that I have to separate and plant on.

http://gammonlandscapenursery.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Potentilla-Goldfinger.jpg

 

[Purdie]

They buds are very similar to my nicotiana tabacum one of which is magenta pink
If it is they are perennials with a fleshy root and self seed profusedly

 

[gentlegreen]

Are you sure it's a perennial ?



Do yours suffer with downy mildew ?

 

[Callie]

Here's the pink version

And a crazy variegated one in there!

Nicotiana you say? And it self seeds?! One if my neighbours has the pink one.....

 

[Callie]

I'm just not quite sure though. Google images of nicotiana look star shaped at the end where as these look more rounded? The actual tube to the base of the flower before it opens with a bulbous but at the end looks right. Not sure about the foliage. Might try to get some better pics...or ask the neighbours!

 

[gentlegreen]

Mirabilis jalapa ?
marvel of Peru / four o'clock flower

Mirabilis jalapa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Callie]

Bang on! Yes well done

 

[gentlegreen]

For some reason I had it in my mind that mirabilis was in the solanaceae too, but apparently it's distantly related to carnations and pinks ...

Looks like I will be growing that in my next garden

 

[Callie]

The colours are amazing, really bright and the plants are quite big (waist height?). The yellow one made me think of Minnie_the_Minx because I think she was after yellow begonias

 

[izz]

I think it's Himalayan Honeysuckle (Leycesteria Formosa)

Leycesteria formosa | Himalayan honeysuckle/RHS Gardening

Leycestaria formosa/ Himalayan Honeysuckle / Himalayan nutmeg / Pheasant Berry
If you want to try them, start slowly and eat them in small quantities, as some people get dodgy stomachs from them, and they can very in taste (from very sweet to very bitter) from plant to plant.

not only were both of you correct, I've just seen a robin and a thrush eating the berries - the plant is next to a window which makes for excellent viewing

 

[gentlegreen]

I think I've posted this plant before without it being identified and I saw it in another garden today :-



The flowers are subtly fragrant - perhaps a bit cherry-ish ...

 

[gentlegreen]

Probably too old to identify clearly ...
Wood blewits are apparently mauve when young.

 

[campanula]

I thought maybe something in the amaranth family, Gentle green...or a chenopodium..or clerodendrum... or I haven't a clue.. Something distinctly edible about it...and yep, annoyingly familiar if elusive at the moment.

 

[gentlegreen]

thanks

Looks like it may be clerodendrum bungei - "glory flower"

 

[campanula]

Yep - I was thrown by the dark, tightly unfurled blossom. The much paler globose bloom is the kicker.There are huge sweeps of this in the local botanical gardens (hence the familiarity) and yes, it is fragrant in a slightly cloying way.

 

[ska invita]

wtf is this fruit?
picked off a shrub in spain
hard as rock
looks kind of half apple half pear
its big too....bigger than a cooking apple

 

[gentlegreen]

quince of some description