One of the joys of my wild garden is that it enables plants to pop up from nowhere. As soon as I stopped mowing this top third of the garden, wild flowers of all sorts started to appear. I had wild violets, self-heal, nettles, thistles and dock plants (Rumex obtusifolius) and many more.
So imagine my excitement as I am wandering around the other day when I find this variegated dock plant. I sent a photo to a horticulturally trained friend who agreed it was what I thought.
I have googled this plant to no avail. Have I discovered a previously unknown plant? (of course not, but indulge me). Is this plant going to be the new 'must have' plant?
Pretty isn't it? I am not a general fan of variegation other than the plants I like it on. I quite often think that variegated plants can look a bit sick. This plant caught my eye because the mainly cream coloured leaf waved at me. "What's that" I thought to myself, "it looks ill". As I looked closer I could see the more tricoloured leaves and I like those better.
I have no idea how much of a thug it might be, but in my imaginary world it is a very well behaved plant and I am naming it Rumex obtusifolius 'leveyii'. One day I will be a millionaire from the sales of this now highly desirable plant* Think about it, pretty and will help relieve the pain of nettle stings - what is not to love!!
In. My. Dreams.
*any resemblance to Del Boy Trotter is purely co-incidental
Ha! What a fun post! It is so fun to find new wildflower, isn't it? Especially when you find them on your own property. :)
ReplyDeleteGood morning from my Mid-Atlantic plot where dock is a major pest. The plant must be dug, not pulled, to remove the roots that drill halfway to China. Alas that even tamed garden sorrels make me violently sick, so I cannot even justify it for a spot on the dinner table! If a dock escapes my notice (how?) and manages to make a seed head, there are eleventy billion new docks-in-waiting sniggering at me. My allotment neighbor grows stinging nettles as a crop, so encourages nearby docks. I can't complain, as I am happy when she offers be a cup of nettle tea, or (better yet!) a bowl of Spring Soup! So while I congratulate you on your newly found fortune, please keep it on your side of the water!
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