What is this plant? [Archive] - Simple Living Forums

Kathy WI

4-4-12, 11:21am

Does anyone know what this plant is? I don't know if it's a weed or a groundcover. It grows mostly in the shade and there's a lot of it in my yard.
http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/hh192/BlueJalopy/?action=view&current=Weed.jpg

iris lily

4-4-12, 11:24am

I don't know what the bigger leaved plant it, but it looks like a layer of creeping Charlie underneath.

If the unknown plant looks ok throughout the year, consider keeping it. Grass doesn't grow well under shad trees and that's why other plants move in there.

Kathy WI

4-4-12, 2:08pm

I'm talking about the bigger leaved plant.

CathyA

4-4-12, 3:37pm

Sorry I don't know. Can you send the pic to your county extension agent?

Kathy WI

4-4-12, 5:41pm

I'm not into gardening and don't care what plants or weeds are in my lawn. The only reason I want to know what this is is to find out if it's safe to feed to my guinea pigs! There's is a lot of this stuff and free guinea pig food would be nice.

CathyA

4-4-12, 6:26pm

Awwww.........
I used to have a guinea pig...a peruvian. She was so cute! I would occasionally give her alfalfa. She would hear me opening the bag of it and start squealing. :)

puglogic

4-4-12, 6:46pm

Around here, they refer to that as campanula (bellflower) http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/475/ It grows everywhere here and you can't kill it. I don't know if it's poisonous. Your county extension agent could probably narrow it down to a genus & species, and then you could find out if it's toxic to the piglets.

Float On

4-4-12, 8:49pm

Oh I love piggies! We had two Timothy and CC. I miss their little squeels. We'd let ours run around in the yard eatting whatever they wanted, animals are usually pretty good at knowing what is good and bad for them.

CathyA

4-4-12, 9:31pm

Just don't let them loose in your house. They love to chew on electric cords. Mine's name was Pookie.

peggy

4-4-12, 10:20pm

Clover is good for piggies. They love it and it's high in protien. And it grows just about everywhere.

Kathy WI

4-4-12, 11:12pm

iris lily

4-5-12, 12:57am

That' interesting, I don't know a weedy companula here. There are man many kinds of ornamental campanulas. They are known for producing blue flowers of all shapes and sizes.

puglogic

4-5-12, 11:43am

It's a beautiful weed, I.L. Be glad you don't have it :) And really, although I gripe like crazy that I can't keep it out of the veggie gardens, I don't hate it the way I hate bindweed or the like. It's just so damned pretty and graceful when it blooms that I can't stay mad for long. Like some weird relative that loves you to pieces, would do anything for you, but who is terribly annoying to be around...

Simpler at Fifty

4-8-12, 9:11pm

@Kathy it looks like wild violets.

Jemima

4-9-12, 4:15pm

Puglogic, that's exactly what it is, creeping bellflower. I found this website that says it's edible. http://wimastergardener.org/?q=CreepingBellflower We always get those flowers which I called bluebells, but I didn't realise this leafy groundcover is what becomes those flowers. Good for the piggies!

I'd call the vet and check just to be sure. A plant that's okay for humans to eat isn't necessarily all right for animals, and Guinea pigs are rather delicate. (I had a whole family of them once thanks to the one I brought home having got up to dickens in the communal cage at the pet store. They're adorable.)