Weed or Perennial?

14 years ago

We just bought a house in western Washington, and this is growing in one of the beds. I've been pulling weeds from the beds, but wasn't sure what this was. Should I leave it or pull it out?

Thanks for any help.

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Comments (7)

growseattlesun
14 years ago
It looks like thyme to me. Have you smelled it?
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
14 years ago
It's Lithodora diffusa, a low growing evergreen ground cover that has electric blue flowers. One often sees it in rockeries in this area....it likes that very good drainage.

Here is a link that might be useful:
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OH MY GOODNESS! I am so glad that I asked you guys - you just saved me 24,000 seeds of this thing!!!!!!! THANK YOU! I just came home and even though it's getting dark outside, I went out to get it pulled, tout de suite !!! As soon as I pulled it, low and behold, I found the poor little perennial that the landscaper planted last year, and it was suffocated by this fast growing thing!!! Thank goodness I just pulled it... Guys, you saved me again! Thank you so much!!! :-)
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dawiff
Original Author
14 years ago
OOoo, I'm glad I didn't pull it. That is a bright flower. I'd like to add some compost to the bed it's growing in, the soil here is very sandy. Will it be ok with that?
Embothrium
14 years ago
Likes a sandy soil. Don't dig in the soil and mix in the bark, in an attempt to incorporate compost. Instead augment and maintain the bark, or cover with another comparatively coarse mulch, like cedar play chips (I love the cedar mill by-product we have been getting on Camano Island). In nature organic debris falls on the ground and is decomposed and integrated by insects, fungi and bacteria, started at the surface. Mulching imitates this, unlike amending.

A coarser material like the bark is a better cover for the soil than a finer, more decomposed one like finished compost. Part of the beneficial influence of the mulch is due to difference in texture (particle size) between the mulch and the soil. A finer mulch is less effective, being of more similar texture to the soil beneath.

Shrubby plants such as Lithodora really hate damage to their roots, as is liable to occur when attempting to improve soil conditions for them by digging in compost around them.

The sheet of blue in spring produced by a large, healthy mat of Lithodora is wonderful. However, a blackening and decline similar to that also seen here on bearberry on some sites is common. If it begins to occur on your plants at some point, do not feel you are being singled out.
lilydude
14 years ago
It also resembles a young Helianthemum plant, IMO. Experts?
reg_pnw7
14 years ago
Yes, to me it looks like Helianthemum.

Either way not a weed.
dawiff
Original Author
14 years ago
Hmmmm. Do they ever self-sow? There is a huge pink Helianthemum in another bed, about 30 feet away from this. I'll have to compare the two. Well, I may not know for sure what it is till next spring when it flowers. Glad I didn't pull it anyway. Thanks to everyone for the help.