Mystery plants

Er - which plants would they be? Give us a clue

There is a line of symbols above the box that you type in, next to the ABC with a tick is a little tree - press that and follow what it indicates.

Plant 2

Agree that 1. is Acanthus - or Bear's Bum as it was known in our tiny garden that it dominated.

I think 2. is Leyceteria formosa - pheasant berry. I think they both need rotating 90 deg. clockwise to look normal ;- )

Hi there - well done with the photos !!!   First is, I think Acanthus Mollis.

Second photo looks like Leycesteria formosa - Pheasant Berry shrub.

I believe that both can grow quite large - we have the first in the garden and it is quite large - do not have the second but, coincidentally, saw one in the garden of a neighbour today and it was a good sized shrub - over a metre in height.

Hope this helps and I'm sure that other forumites will have other ideas as to identity.

Happy gardening 

Yes watch out for the Pheasant Berry - it spreads  and self seeds easily.  It also strikes easily from cuttings, but as the name suggests, birds love the fruits.

I have Leycesteria formosa  but didn't know it as Pheasant Berry - I call mine himalayan honeysuckle! It can grow a lot in a year - mine foms a short tunnel once through an arch in a hazel hedge. Mine doesn't seem to mind hard pruning to keep it in check

I was looking at plants on ebay the other day and there was two pheasant berry plug plants went for 16 quid and then 3 quid postage on top!!.There was 12 bids. I couldnt believe what some people will pay. I did have one in the ground and it was a lovely big shrub but had mygarden re-done and it was removed. I do have one in a large pot now, and to be honest this is its first season so i dont really know how it will get on. I think the flowers are lovely and its quite an unusual looking plant

leycesteria is known as Pheasant berry due to it's being used as Pheasant cover. They love the berries too.

Loreei, if you love the acanthus then put it in but I don't love it and had the devil's own job getting rid of one that I inherited.

Leycesteria owners, could you explain a bit more about the cutting back. Is it really drastic as with buddleia or 1 in 3 every year like coloured dogwood or something else?

I remove about a third of the stems each spring from my Leycesteria and cut back the remaining stems by about a third.  This keeps it a manageable size.  I haven't had any problems with it self seeding.

I have both the basic dark leaved and the golden lycesteria in pots (now there is a surprise) where they remain well controlled but still have those wonderful flower tassels to enjoy.

I had a happy leycesteria that made babies so I kept one and potted the others up for friends.  However they have both fallen victim to last year's bad winter and the one I rescued and tried to nurture in a pot died after this spring's late frosts.