On the importance of plant ID skills

I always tell people about the importance of plant identification skills. I also tell them that, since plant species tend to repeat on our British Columbia strata title properties, we can cheat a little. This is because once they learn a plant species on one site they should be good on the others.

Exceptions

But of course, there are exceptions. Some sites throw you a curve with plant species we don’t see anywhere else on our sites. Especially when home owners plant their own stuff straight out of the pages of Fine Gardening.

This happened to me last week in Surrey, British Columbia. My co-worker came running to ask me about a plant that looked weedy and spiky. Could I take a look? Yes, of course. As Red Seal Journeyman people sometimes look to me for help.

Plant or weed?

I actually remembered this plant from earlier in the season. It was much smaller then and looked weedy. Now it was more imposing and sporting huge spiky flowers.

I had to admit I wasn’t hundred percent sure which kicked in our rule: don’t touch it if you’re not sure. So we left it. I took pictures and wrote this into my blog post idea notebook.

Research

Once I got home I posted my photos on the very excellent The Garden Professors blog on Facebook. It took just a few minutes before people started posting their answers.

As an aside, one of the garden professors is my hero Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott. Follow her and buy her excellent books. Thank me later.

Meet Acanthus spinosus

The plant is called Acanthus spinosus. It’s an imposing clump-forming perennial with interesting foliage and flowers.  The flowers are white and look like snap dragons. They are enclosed by spiny reddish-purple bracts. Touch them carefully.

Acanthus can be grown from seed and it spreads with roots. It’s slow to establish but once it is, it may be hard to eradicate it. Just enjoy it.

It tolerates rabbits but I’m not sure how the rabbits tolerate it. It can be grown in all sorts of soil. As for garden use, it’s a great border plant.

Mystery solved

It feels great to learn a new plant. Remember the plant repetition on our strata sites? It can be a bit boring when you know most plant species on most of your sites. It can be fun to key out a new plant. So now we know. The plant stays because it’s not a weed. It’s Acanthus spinosus.  Spinosus is easy to remember because of the spines. Acanthus spinosus.