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Does anyone know what this is called?

Harrow, Middlesex, United Kingdom Gb

It's very invasive, seeds everywhere. The flowers go to seed and it's like dandelion seeds only smaller. Pretty but just too rampant. I have seen it in the west country.



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Answers

 

Centranthus ruber or red valerian - there's a white form too.

4 Apr, 2009

 

Yes its valerian, I have it too and it gets everywhere but the insects love it so I allow it to stay and just dig up seedlings that are in the wrong place

4 Apr, 2009

 

Oh, I love it, Juliette.......I bought one last year from a garden centre and I'm pleased to say it's doubled in size....a deeper red than yours......they're a very useful herb, having a calming effect on the nervous system and Valerian tea taken an hour before going to bed, encourages natural sleep.

4 Apr, 2009

 

Depends on whether you like "weeds" (wild flowers) to self-seed in your garden. In its own way it's no worse than, say, forget-me-not. Provided your garden is not too formal, you can allow a bit of it to stay and pull out the rest.

5 Apr, 2009

 

Lucky you, it will not grow here at all. Tried it more often than I care to think about and it dies.

5 Apr, 2009

 

It is Kentranthus ruber, a member of the Valeriana-family.

5 Apr, 2009

 

Centranthus ruber as others have said. I have it in an area by the greenhouse with very shallow soil, having got the idea from the fact that they grow out of stone walls in the west country. I deadhead it after flowering - it still self seeds directly underneath but not so much elsewhere in the garden. It is _not_ the medicinal valerian, which is Valeriana officinalis.

5 Apr, 2009

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