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Weed or Plant? Purple Flower with Clovers

13 years ago

I have these clovers growing in my garden and I keep picking them out. I've noticed the clovers I did not get are now growing pretty purple flowers. Could this be a flower deliberately planted? The old owner of the house planted so many wonderful things. I was wondering if this might be one of them or if it is just a weed. Thanks for any help. Picture link is below along with the picture. If you know the name of this plant I would be grateful. Thanks again.

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Comments (4)

jean001
13 years ago
That's an oxlais. Likely an ornamental kind. Some are prolific spreaders, others aren't. Most, if not all, have some sort of bulbous or tuberous root. Challenging to get rid of but possible if you're persistent.
jposs
13 years ago
Definitely Oxalis. I have these in my butterfly garden. (Accidentally) It transplanted with one of my liriope border plantings. At first, I wanted it gone completely, but later found that if you control the climbing onto other plants, it makes a beautiful "living mulch."
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Weed or wild flower purple flowers
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Thanks so much! This weekend I am headed to a nursery that sells native plants. To plant my hillside next to our waterfall we put in. May have to transplant this one. It really is a good size and has a lot of blooms.
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Plant or weed? Purple flowers?
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Thank you, looks like a distinct possibility. The leaves look similar, as does the size, but I haven't seen the flowers cluster quite like that. But then again, Angelonia requires full sun and these guys are NOT getting it. I'll post another pic in a minute of it isolated from weeds.
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It's a Solanum, perhaps Solanum carolinense Here is a link that might be useful: horse nettle
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2 plants, can anyone ID? - white flowers, purple flowers
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Comments (5)
Thanks for the ID, Tyrlych! Both "weeds" are nice looking plants. I had no idea that the Gibasis is a plant normally cultivated.
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katie kaminski
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Thats a plant called Sorrel. It’s an herb with a sort of sour, bitter taste similar to the outside of sour candy. It grows wild, but some people intentionally plant it for aesthetic or medicinal purposes.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
3 years ago
The plant is an Oxalis. Strictly speaking the common name is wood sorrel, of which there are many species. Sorrel is normally used for Rumex species.

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