Day 198: purple toadflax

Daily details from the garden to bring you inspiration throughout the year

The notion of the uninvited guest carries with it an air of something annoying, even perhaps sinister; the character who turns up looking to subvert events to their own agenda. I know this is how we look at many of the plants we consider weeds in our garden, even if they probably have more of a right to look at us that way. But, when it comes to the purple toadflax (Linaria purpurea) that plonks itself in your beds and borders and, with its whorls of slim grey leaves and tall spires of small, snap-dragon-like flowers, outshines many of those plants in possession of guilt-edged invitations, we’d be wise to review our opinions. This year we have a paler white variety alongside the more usual purple, and both have attained a hitherto unseen height (at least here) of at least 1.5 metres. If it hadn’t invited itself, I’d be making the effort to convince it to visit.


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Hello! I’m Andrew, gardener, blogger, podcaster, and owner of a too-loud laugh, and I’m so pleased you’ve found your way to Gardens, weeds & words. You can read a more in-depth profile of me on the About page, or by clicking the image above.

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