My weekly look at what is growing wild in my garden (and even in my flower beds!) has made me realise just how many weeds/wild flowers there are here, and I am certainly not going to run out of ideas for posts for a long while yet!
Today I have chosen a very pretty weed that many of you may know in one form or another: Veronica. As a child we called it Bird’s Eye, but is also often called Speedwell. The German name is ‘Männertreu’, literally translated as ‘men’s faithfulness’ which is an ironic reference to how quickly the petals drop or the flower wilts when picked. 😉 (Not at all PC these days I suppose!)
In addition, the common German name ‘Ehrenpreis’ (‘honour prize’) refers to its value in herbal medicine. It is apparently good for all sorts of ailments if used to make tea. (I haven’t tried it).
The most common Veronica that grows here is V. chamaedrys, but we also sometimes see the evergreen one V. persica, which is not quite so blue, much ‘weedier’ and flowers almost all year round. Veronica chamaedrys creeps into my garden beds in spring, but if left to grow in the meadow it will grow towards the light and get to about 40cm tall. Its delicate flowers are about 1cm across and a beautiful deep blue.
It is one of those weeds you may not remove from your flower beds because it so lovely. But it will spread like mad really quickly, so beware!
Have you seen this weed in your garden? And do you remove it imediately or stop to admire how pretty it is? Let me know in the comments! 😉 And if you would like to join me, please do, and leave a link to your post in the comments below.
Happy weeding!
Words and Herbs 
Yes, but I do not leave it because it is so pretty. It is actually rather runty. I simply do not bother to remove it only because it is not so aggressive.
Interesting that you have the same weed as us!
We do not lack many exotic weeds here.
Pretty but I remove it.
😃 I leave just a bit if it looks nice. Or if it is growing through another plant!
I like it!
I thought you might like it Amy. After all, it’s blue! 😉
Not seen it in my garden, but it is out on my woodland walk.
It may pop up in your garden one day then!
I have the creeping speedwell in my gravel which is easy to remove, but I also have an evergreen plant in my woodland border which is not a weed, but grown as a ground cover. The blue flowers are lovely.
Interesting you can tame it to grow in a certain area. 😃
Well the one in my border is a perennial Veronica, bought from the Lost Gardens of Heligan. It’s taken a long time to get established though.
I get a lot of speedwell around the house and garden. It is not on my “most hated” list of weeds as it is pretty and lifts out relatively easily. It is popular with the bees early in the year when there is not much else around. Amelia
It is a lovely sight in early spring, isn’t it! 😃
Haven’t seen it yet but it is very pretty.
Definitely one of the prettiest weeds. 😃
I do have this and I leave it for a little while before removing it. I do tend to leave some weeds to grow anyway as they do add colour, but I always keep an eye on them before they get to carried away and become rampant. Speedwell is a pretty flower.
Yes, I often wait and see what the weeds in my beds will look like when they flower, or if they are perhaps seedlings of something I grow. But they are usually boring weeds! LOL!
I have this in my rock garden I think it’s really pretty, so I leave it while it’s blooming and then yank as much of it out as I can when it’s done. I must not do a good job, lol, because it always comes back next year! It brings some nice color at the time between the daffodils and the early summer bloomers.
Yes, I think the ants must transfer the seeds for miles! 😉
Silly me, I actually introduced this to my garden years ago and soon learned my mistake, ha! Now it runs wild in the field and lawn edges, where in full bloom is quite beautiful. 🙂
LOL! My Mum did that with Forget-me-nots and regretted it for years!
At least forget-me-nots are easy to pull, these, not so much!
I haven’t seen it in the wild but as bedding plants.
We have various perennial Veronicas here that are not really weedy at all, and don’t spread like these!
Not seen it, but the blue is lovely. I’d have definitely let it spread before learning my lesson. lol. I do have several sunny border blue perennial veronicas that I adore.
I have some perennial ones too and love them It’s that deep blue colour that attracts us, isn’t it. 😃
I love this flower but do not see it in my garden or the surrounds.
It is a sweet little weed, and relatively harmless. 😃
In my book nothing that produces a blue flower can be considered a weed. Your post sent me outside to see if any of the Veronica peduncularis I had planted in one bed has shown up this year. Regrettably, it seems that its spot has been overtaken by rampaging succulents.
I grow the Veronica peduncularis too. It’s a tough little plant and pretty too!
It’s such a pretty one–it came up as an opportunist in my brand-new border in Missouri. I’m not certain which species that one was, as it was much earlier, arriving just as the henbit (another introduced weed/wildflower) was petering out. There was nothing else at all flowering then, so I let the speedwell go. I pulled out some of the henbit because it was rather more aggressive. The speedwell not so much!
I wanted to do a special post to link today, but I’ve been knocked flat with a migraine, which has no respect for schedules! I’ve really enjoyed this theme–hopefully next week… 🙂
The veronica seems to be a worldwise phenomena! Hope you are feeling better soon Amy. xx
Enjoying all the surprises you are finding within Mother Nature!
Glad you are enjoying these posts too. 😃
Beauty in wild flowers 💐