Looks like a bittercress growing in there.

Thanks BA, but I don't think you have identified the one I'm asking about. I did a search for a picture & there well may be a couple of Bittercress to the right of the lettuces but I'm interested in the id of the grey leaf one, with the white spots all over it, to the left of the Tom Thumb lettuces. They make an almost straight line past the lettuces.

How very frustrating, until I started to type I knew what this was and now I don't. Back when my brain engages first gear.

I reckon that those grey leaves maybe poppies, the big floppy pink ones. Phil J

You mean oriental poppies, Phil? I thought that at first but they don't look quite right to me.

Thanks for your guesses, guys. :-))

But, sorry not the right answer either! Can't be Oriental Poppies there are none in 100s of metres, as the bird flies! LOL! :-D Besides OPs have a deep green ferny foliage - totally different to these!!!

As for the more "normal" Poppies we do have some on the plot but I know their seed leaves & I assure you they look nothing like these at all!

Guess again! LOL! :-D

they are the opium poppy [P somnifera] and are an annual. they come up with white spots. I love them. Have they just appeared after you dug the soil? They germinate after being exposed to the light.

Thanks, Sea, but do you have a photo or know where I can find one? I've spent the last 15-20 minutes trawling through webpages looking for a photo of the seedlings to no avail at all! Found plenty of photos of flowers & seedheads but none of the seedlings. :-((

I came across a couple of gardening forums where they talk about the plant but there are no pictures.

I'll take your word for it, at least until I find photographic proof to the contrary. :-))

Yes, the soil has been dug up twice this year. I planted Beetroot there & when I pulled it up I dug it over again & then left it for a few weeks before sowing the Lettuces. Only after the lettuces were well under way did I see these "weeds". I was curious as to what they might be so I didn't immediately pull them up. In fact they are still growing there now. If they turn out to be poppies then I shall let them continue till they flower. We do have another kind of Poppy growing on the plot with silver grey foliage but its seedlings are of a similar colour to the mother plant - not at all like these.

i will have a look in my garden tomorrow and if there are any I will take a picture. But a pound to a penny they are:o)

I was going to say they looked very much like poppies. I used to think they were weeds, until I let one grow and found out that they were poppies.

I've had a look in my encyclopaedia of Gardening Plants & I found loads of photos - of their flowers, but none of their leaves. I read the description for the Opium Poppy &, unless the adult leaves change a lot from the juvenile, they don't correspond to these.

Thanks Alex for your contribution. I'd like them to turn out to be Poppies & therefore save them for next year.

One thing that stopped me pulling them up is the fact that I haven't seen them anywhere else on our 1 & a 1/2 plots. These 4 or 5 plants are all there are so easily got rid of if they turn out to be weeds. But I quite like them, they are different from other plants, with their white spots.

they do lose their spots abit like bambi!

trust me Balcony they are opium poppies.

Thanks, SB. I'll take your word for it then :-))

Once again, thanks, SB! They have just begun to flower & they are indeed Poppies! :-)) I took a photo today which I shall upload to my photos page so you can see it. I'll save some seeds for next year to sow where I'd like them to grow & not where they just pop up!

are they a nice colour? some can have plumy shades others scarlet.
I have them coing up all over, i weed them out so I only keep a few where i want them.

glad I was right. :o)

I've uploaded a few photos to my photos page. They are indeed very nice looking & add colour to the plot! I'm glad I kept them! If it hadn't been for the white markings on the leaves I would have hoed them away!

you must be pleased you kept them. the photos are lovely.

I am indeed pleased that I kept them! They are looking fabulous on the allotment! There are a couple of other species of Poppy "popping" up all over the place! There are at least 3 on our plot alone! :-))