Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: spottymint on July 01, 2014, 17:48

Title: Plant ID Please.
Post by: spottymint on July 01, 2014, 17:48
Hi

Can anyone identify this plant ?

It was about 12" high, house leek/succulent leaves with this flower spike.

(http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm265/spottymint/Mobile%20Uploads/oldwardenplant_zpsa0b2b70f.jpg) (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/spottymint/media/Mobile%20Uploads/oldwardenplant_zpsa0b2b70f.jpg.html)

Many thanks, Spotty.
Title: Re: Plant ID Please.
Post by: mumofstig on July 01, 2014, 18:00
Maybe a Spider's Houseleek - Sempervivum arachnoideum   :unsure:
Halfway down the page here

http://dangergarden.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/bloomday-june-2011.html
Title: Re: Plant ID Please.
Post by: spottymint on July 02, 2014, 09:09
Good guess, but it the pic's on goog look too small.

I didn't notice any rosettes at the base and the stem, was about 12" tall and as thick as a cucumber. It was very large, not shown by the picture.
Title: Re: Plant ID Please.
Post by: mumofstig on July 02, 2014, 10:22
How about a pic of the plant, rather than just the flower stalk, then  ;)
Title: Re: Plant ID Please.
Post by: spottymint on July 02, 2014, 10:58
Not possible, taken in Bedfordshire, I'm in Hampshire !

It was just a plant I saw when visiting Old Warden air show on Sunday, the bottom of the plant was surrounded by long grass, hence just the big stalk. 
Title: Re: Plant ID Please.
Post by: sunshineband on July 02, 2014, 20:09
It is definitely a sempervivum of some sort: their flower heads are very distinctive in style.
Title: Re: Plant ID Please.
Post by: New shoot on July 03, 2014, 08:50
It is definitely a sempervivum of some sort: their flower heads are very distinctive in style.

Yes very much so  :)

The mother rosette tends to wither and die away as the flower stalk grows, so there may not have been much of the base of the plant to look at. 

I have sempervivums growing in a couple of pots and end up with holes whenever one decides to flower.  Luckily they transplant well, so I just move a baby from the edge into the gap  :)
Title: Re: Plant ID Please.
Post by: spottymint on July 05, 2014, 18:52
Many thanks, just wondered what it was really.

Just seemed to be a strange plant just ambling along wild on an old airfield.

I got some strange looks when I photographed some Flanders and opium poppies on some old soil, they had dumped at the side.

A woman taking flower photo's at an airshow  :ohmy: ! When all the men are walking around with the Hubble telescope taking pictures of Planes !