Looks like a Silene (campion) to me. I'll go & look up what sort. Back soon...

No - Saponaria officinalis 'Flore Plena' - plus a 'rosea' in there somewhere!! LOL. I've got this. It does 'walk' but it's welcome to. I love it. :-)))

Yay! Found pics, you're right Spritz :-) Super plant isn't it. Another one for the wish list....

Yay. Well done & THANK YOU Henry. Just done google search image and its a double. Lets see how it blooms over the summer. Might keep it or give it to mother in law after its finished.

Beattie, Like Henry said it does like to walk. I've got these shoots appearing about 6ft either side of this plant. Looks like I did the right thing in early spring and cut it right back to the roots as it was in a bad way. Any tips you can share about it Henry?

Yes it is Saponaria ( commonly Bouncing Bett). A bit of a thug and needs careful pulling out now and again or it will go everywhere. It was used and maybe still is used for cleaning tapestries. If you visit some of our old houses you will usually find it in old gardens, grown for the that purpose.Mother in law may not appreciate in a few years!!!!!

I will give you a tip. Spray it with Roundup NOW!

Oh, Ob.......such a shame for a lovely plant! If you keep it in its place, there's no need to get rid of it. Mine has not behaved 'thuggishly', as some other plants have in my garden.

Well ours has been treated with Roundup for the last 14 years and it is still spreading all over the Hidden Garden and we never even planted it. It has come from under the wall and the 2 metres deep lily pond from our neighbours garden. It is in the outlet pipe for the septic tank to the fields beyond. It has lifted the paving slabs in the path through the Hidden garden, do you want any more problems with it?

*getting wish list out, scribbling through latest addition...*

Is it rabbit proof Owdboggy?

Isn't it strange how some plants are dreadful thugs in some gardens, and not in others? I struggle to control Japanese Anemones, while other people can't get them to grow at all.

I feel for you, Ob. No wonder you battle so hard to get rid of it. A bit like my Symphytum. That keeps re-appearing, although it hasn't caused any structural damage, only to my back and arms...

Please do not mention Japanese Anemones, they are even coming up in the lawns, despite close mowing. They get weed killer on them too. Comfrey is as bad and if you let it seed........................So how about Bronze Fennel? Only grew one plant once, now it still comes up after being weeded out and never ever allowed to flower again.

Same here, Ob. I laugh at the 'Designer Gardens' with bronze fennel in them - what fools to plant that! There were several plants here when we came, and OH had to help me remove it with his pickaxe, due to the roots. Yes, I'm always pulling up babies.

I have one plant now, which I'm about to cut down to its base.

I have or have had all of those - how about some Allium triquetrum? I reckon it's much worse than jap anemones, comfrey or bronze fennel.

What does that look like please, Beattie?

It's a bit like a bright white bluebell with a few delicate green stripes on the bell. The leaves are triangular in cross section and grow from white, wettish round bulbs. They spread like wildfire and choke out all sorts of other plants. There's a strong garlicky smell when the plants are walked on or in the sun. I quite like the leaves chopped in a ham sandwich and the raw bulbs have a strong taste with a sweetish finish.

I was going to find you a pic on Google, but when I clicked on one my virus checker went mad and had to block scads of malware, so now I'm feeling a bit nervous. I'm running the virus checker on the whole system anyway.

Oh yes - that's an excellent description. We lived in a tiny house while we were looking for our present home, and they were just everywhere in the garden! Thanks, Beattie, I'm glad I didn't find them here, as well. :-(((

Thanks for all the comments & now i'm in 2 minds guys. Do I keep it or get rid? It hasn't cost me any money as it was already here. It is wild though and have had shoots appearing within a 10ft radius of it.

Pull up the ones you don't want! It's a very pretty plant, I think. Up to you, though. If it might cause damage, then it should go.

I've got a huge clump of them all tied up. If 1 goes then they all go! lol

Oh dear. Decisions, decisions!

Another thing Henry, every clematis I put behind it to go up the fence died within a few days of planting. Thought it was bad luck at 1st then it happened 2nd time and then a 3rd time. None of my other clematis's have died. Do you think this plant had something to do with it?

Hmmmmm.....Could the roots be interfering with the Clem. rootballs?

And please call me Spritz - Henry is my Lab and he can read...LOL.

How about keeping some of the Saponaria in a pot as a compromise?

I can't grow clematis either. I buy them occasionally (whenever we move & I have another garden to try it in, now I think about it) but I've never managed to keep one alive.

Oh Beattie!!!!! Whatever do you do to them?

lol, sorry Spritz. Appologies to Henry! lol
Would it be the same if I planted a passion flower to climb the trellis there or would it still kill it? Or any other plant? The snapdragons i had next to it grew ok but died a lot quicker then the snapdragons further away from the Saponaria. Yet I planted the snap dragons at exactly the same time and gave the same amount of water and food. It's either a bit of a coincidence or its a brutal thug that doesn't like any other plants near it!!

Erm, the last but one that I planted (in the spring) grew to about 14" high, then it started shrinking so I sprinkled slug pellets around. It continued to shrink as I kept it watered and placed netting around it to protect it from the wind. It got down to about 4" and I thought it was a goner, but today it's about 6" high.

The last one I planted about the beginning of June and went on holiday. My son watered the garden for me & when we got back it was still there. Now its leaves are going a bit yellow.....

I just don't seem to have the clematis touch.

It all depends on what clematis it is Beattie. There are so many and all flower at different times. I've got about 8 clemtais's in my garden and all going fine. Even the ones that died when planted behind Saponaria have recovered after some TLC.
Go to this website to find out about yours.
http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/index.cfm

The incredible shrinking clematis is / was 'Ville de Lyon', the one that's going yellow was labelled "Clematis" and I think they both came from Morrisons, at different times. I wasn't going to risk a lot of cash with my track record with this plant.

Oooops! Right - my Saponaria is amongst other plants, which don't mind one bit. There's a Cistus, a smallish Hibiscus syriacus, a Salvia, Geraniums (hardy) and a helianthemum. None of these has a problem at all with the Saponaria. So - ???? It can't be a problem with the roots, can it?

Clems, though, are 'touchy about having their rootballs disturbed. I lost one because I planted a Sophora too close to it. It just wilted and died.

Beattie - try a bomb-proof C. viticella like 'Etoile Violette'.

Thank you for the suggestion Spritz - I'll add it to my "tips" file on notepad. I see "Polish Spirit" is a viticella. I'm part Polish so it appeals.
Is clematis sieboldii florida more finicky? I've seen it in catalogues and drooled but resisted as it's worse killing off plants you really fancy :-(

Hopeless - don't even 'think' about it! Difficult and not vigorous, not even reliably hardy in cold/unsheltered areas!

'Polish Spirit' would be a good one. :-)) It takes a while to get going, but I have it clambering up a Crataegus...looks great there.

thanks for the advice Spritz - I've updated the wish list

PS the yellowing leaves are on a clematis called "Bees Jubilee". Is it a toughie or likely to turn its toes up? It has made a bit of growth since I last looked at it and is now about 12" high.

Is that all? I wouldn't have planted a baby one out, to be honest, Beattie. I have two in long pots growing on until they're at least 3' tall, before they go in. 'Bee's Jubilee' is a well-known Clem. and as far as I know, it's reliable. Good luck with it! :-)

I think I'm going to have to be patient. I didn't realise it wasn't garden ready.

Poor little thing! It'll need a lot of TLC.....:-/

Ahem! I think I'll have to make it a windbreak then. *shuffles off sheepishly*

Oooops! Was it err...sorry...start again.......

Is it a seedling, or did you buy a baby one?

I bought it in Morrisons I think, might have been Lidl. It was in a square 9cm or so pot and I thought it was ready to plant out in the garden. They both sell quite a few bargain plants. I bought other climbers at the same time - Abutilon megapotamicum, Jasmine beesianum, parthenocissus. All of these are growing well - but haven't flowered - not expecting them to this year.

Well - let's hope that your Clem survives and thrives! Do you feed it?

It's had some slow release fertilizer granules in the soil that were applied generally in spring and I gave it a cupful or so of diluted Tomorite when I was feeding the cannas nearby. Should I give it more? I don't usually feed young / newly planted plants til they've settled in for a while. Perhaps that's wrong?

I just thought it might get going enough to get a good root system going before the 'W' word hits us...I'd feed it as you are for a short while longer, then change to maybe blood, fish and bone rather than one that boosts the top growth, I think. I feed all my mature ones once a month with dilute Tomorite or Miraclegro.