Comfrey...

[Jessiebean]

I hvae bought a wee Comfrey plant ( I am trying to grow from seed but no success yet..) and I have plonked it in the garden with some composty soil and labelled it firmly as it would be very eay to get it confused with the wild forget-me-nots (as they are known here) which are everywhere and I must not accidently weed out my Comfrey...
Anything else I need to do?

[Green Aura]

Unless tasmanian forget-me-nots have foot-long leaves I don't think there's much chance of you mistaking them, Jessie

I don't think it requires too much in the way of care, it'll thrive pretty much anywhere I think. Just cut it back twice a year and put the leaves in a barrel of water or on the compost heap to feed all your other plants. It goes really well with nettle and/or horsetail for an all-round fertiliser.

[Jessiebean]

The things around here colloquially called Forget me nots have huge hairy leaves just like comfrey which are quite at odds with the pretty blue flowers.. I have done some googling but haven't found out what they really are except I think they must be related to comfrey, forget me nots and borage... I will have to post some pics to get some help!
This stuff is insidous and keeps popping up but does go nicely in the compost....
I will try to track down some nettles and horsetail to go with my comfrey!

[Green Aura]

I don't know anything about southern hemisphere plants, but if you post some pics you will get someone who knows.

As an afterthought, it's not borage is it? Or alkanet? Both in the borage family.

[Jessiebean]

Ah! it is Alkanet or more specifically Pentaglottis sempervirens our garden invaders tend to be rather British due to the moist temperate climate providing such excellent conditions...
Hmm I know nothing about Alkanet but this does smell rather like Borage....( I snuck out with a torch to grabsome so it is sitting on my lap...) Thanks for that!

[Green Aura]

I've never used it for culinary purposes, but I use dried alkanet root, steeped in oil to make red-tinted lip balm!

[Jessiebean]

That sounds fun- I shall have to experiment!

[Peggy Sue]

If it has such big roots it may be a nutritious as fertiliser as good old comfrey?

I do love that thing in Oz where everything has a British name but ti's actually not related at all- like your robin which is more like a thrush with a red breast!

[grahamhobbs]

Green Alkanet produces a red dye and is supposedly good for bruises and such like.

[Jessiebean]

I think the alkanet is good enough for the compost- it does have deepish tap roots so it might be chock full of nutrients...
Our magpies are another bird not the same as yours- do yours attack people in Springtime?

[MKG]

Magpies? Attack?

Ours can hardly fly

They struggle through the air - the worst fliers in the bird kingdom, I reckon. But they're gorgeous. No, they won't attack - but they'll nick anything shiny you leave lying around.

Mike

[Millymollymandy]

And kill baby blackbirds.

[Peggy Sue]

Yes I do remember the Magpies are different down under too. I think the only birds here rumoured to attack are swans....and the only swan thats ever attacked me was in Oz!! Big balck one chased me into a shop and stole my hotdog, all the shoppers were trapped for ages, beast

[Millymollymandy]

[Jessiebean]

Ah yes we have many many things that will attack- magpies, swans, emus...I think we will have to come and visit the UK to feel safe!
I will have to investigate the roots of the alkanet.
OOh I must go check on my comfrey- I hope it hasn't been eaten by slugs, or are the leaves too hairy?