By Spritzhenry
West Somerset,
England 
I've been watching this plant growing taller in my garden, wondering what it could be. Today it's in flower, and in a brief respite from the rain, I've taken its photo - flowers and leaves. Please does anyone know what it is? It's about 3' tall including the flowers, and it stands straight with just one stem.
18 Jul, 2011
Answers
It's actually quite attractive, MG! :-)
18 Jul, 2011
It reminds me of ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria).
18 Jul, 2011
Leaves don't look right to me for ground elder and I've never seen it produce this superb flower spike...
18 Jul, 2011
Could it be Common valerian (Valeriana officinalis) ?
18 Jul, 2011
Bingo! Shirley_tulip is right, I reckon. Gold star to you, Shirley :-)
18 Jul, 2011
Well! I live and learn! I've just googled it, and I think you definitely deserve the gold star, Shirley - thank you. :-)))
18 Jul, 2011
I've seen this growing near a small stream in woods not far from us, Spritz. It always has a triple flower at the very top. So pleased you have the ID now ... and thankyou both for the Gold Stars !!
18 Jul, 2011
It's strange that two plants are called 'Valerian', isn't it. There's the one called 'Centranthus' in latin, and this one - both 'Valerian'. I shall keep this - even though the website info said it seeds itself - I like it! :-)
18 Jul, 2011
Good ... it's a very pretty flower. Do you think it was left for you by the birds? : o ))
18 Jul, 2011
Probably - I'll thank them later. ;-)
19 Jul, 2011
: o )))
19 Jul, 2011
I don't know but I'd like to find out. MG
18 Jul, 2011