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A dwarf comfrey from the Caucasus but widely introduced throughout Europe thanks to its talent for creeping
under the garden fence. A charming monster, I collected a sprig from an escaped plant in the north of France
thirty years ago. Knowing how vigorous it is, I didn't plant it in my garden I gave it to my mother. And there is has prospered, filling space under apple trees and flowering while the first breath of spring still freezes in front of the nose. My mother has a generous spirit and made quite sure that a small piece made its way to my garden. To sweeten the gift she also included an alpine strawberry and hand in hand the two are romping along under the trees. Let's have some common sense from those marvellous people at Plants of the World online: "The native range of this species is Caucasus. It is a perennial and grows primarily in the temperate biome." Some people can make a small thing go a long way, others specialise in making a thing that can go a long way rather small. Wikipedia tells me it is a deer-tolerant perennial. To be honest, I'm not feeling a lot of love, but it is a lovely thing. The BSBI say: "A perennial herb, spreading vegetatively by rhizomes which produce long, leafy stolons and potentially forming very large clonal colonies. Widely planted as ground cover in gardens and parks and found on roadsides, in hedgerows, woods, and plantations and on streamsides, often where dumped in garden waste although some populations have clearly originated from material washed down streams." It is such a lovely thing that you should plant it and brace yourself. It hasn't been invasive here. Yet. |
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| 20th May 2012 | ||
