Do you recognise this weed?

[silver birch]

Can anyone help identify a plant taking over the vegetable patch?

In the last few weeks our garden is becoming overrun by what I first thought was a pretty little plant. It forms round mounds, usually a foot or so wide, 8 inches high. It has purple stems and medium size flat round leaves.

And it's spreading across the WHOLE garden.

Does anyone recognise this little chap?

[TPeers]

Aquilegia! Very pretty. Hell to get rid of!

[Janco]

Could it be aquilegia? Common names include columbine or grannies bonnet. They do self seed fairly prolifically but not usually everywhere (at least not in my garden).

[jacob marley]

This is not what you want to hear but i have not got a clue but a likely contender for filling the compost bin up quickly if it is that big good luck jacob

[nick the grief]

Aquilegia! Very pretty. Hell to get rid of!

Round up will see it off It certainly looks like Aquilegia rather than getting rid transplant it to another part of the garden ... almost certain to kill it

[silver birch]

Oooooh! After all I've said, I'd be quite excited if it were aquilegia! How beautiful. I've just done an image search, and though I haven't found a picture quite like the leaf, they are similar.

I might stop from pulling it all up and see if it flowers. Many thanks!

[silver birch]

Well... if anyone wants some...

[roitelet]

It is very pretty but DON'T let it seed or you will be over run with it again. It's like Ox eye daisies Lovely but have to be kept in their place.

[lottie dolly]

looks like aquilegia,we have it,just dig up what you don't want,and either compost or tranceplant elsewhere,or can pot it up and donate to a table top sale,there is often one on somewhere,they will sit quite happy in pots,what i do is bend the long flower stalks over before the seeds pop,

[Sue]

Hi
Having just got some aquilegas I'm grateful to know about the seed problem.
The weed that drives me mad is rosebay willow herb, those perishing little rosettes of the baby plants come up everywhere. I did read that each plant has 80,000 seeds... I get rid of mine but it's on the unused plots so I suspect I'm going to be tussling with it for some time to come.
Sue

[veg4681]

It's definitely Aquilegia, why not save some in pots or flower bed but don't allow it flourish/establish in your veggie bed. It grows all over my garden (the baby ones keep popping up, even in potted plant) but I pulled them like weeds.

[Snadger]

Aquilegia hybrids are beautiful and come in a range of colours. Unfortunately when they set seed they usually revert to the base colours and have smaller flowers with basic colours. They are a perennial so you may, or may not, get flowers the first year after seeding!

I think you would be better off buying a packet of seeds and sowing them if you want some of the large and beautiful flowers and treating these offspring as weeds!

[gojiberry]

I have aquilegia in my garden and let it seed every year. It isn't a real problem plant and if you pull the plants up at this time of the year that will be the end of your problem. If you want some real problem plant I can offer bindweed, couch grass of mares tail, I have an abundance of all three.
Ian

[Paul Wagland]

I've read that aquilegia roots form a barrier that's impenetrable to other plants - so you can use a line of them to stop other invasive weeds.

I was trying this out in my last garden (against rampant ground elder) and it seemed to be working, but I moved house before I was properly convinced.

[wellie]

it's Aquilegia. And I should know!
On a lighter note to your enquiry.... Trousers and I bought Holly Cottage with a garden FULL of Aquilegias, and they had been quite happily self-seeding for well over five years prior to our arrival, thank you very much!.....
And we needed somehow to 'thank' the kind gentleman publican who had rather generously donated his heritage garden tools to the display of, in our Garden Room/Conservatory Dining Room. So Trousers and I cut virtually every single stem of Aquilegia in the garden, sat Wellie on a chair (with no less than a stitch on) and arranged her in front of the camera completely covered in Aquilegias.

I think he's still alive. I think he still has the photo. Trousers wants the photo back.
Trust me, it's Aquilegia.....