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about 4' tall growing in a large pot in my mum's garden, normally green but turns red in the autumn. she can't remember if it flowers or not, and has lost the label. any help very gratefully received :)

looks like an acer.

thanks for replying, kea, but it's definitely not an acer. it's not a fruit cane or bush of any description although it sits next to a potted blueberry so I wondered if my mum had bought them at the same time... it looks a little like a grape (three-lobed leaves) but it's not. I think she'd know the name if she heard it but I couldn't think of anything else it might be. I'll ask her about flowers again when I speak to her next... it's quite upright in habit too. made me think of guelder rose but it didn't have any berries...

Flowering currant?

Viburnum opulus?

I would go along with RT, a vibernum.

valmarg

It does look a Viburnum, try to grow Nasturtiums close to it. As it is a host for overwintering Blackfly, the Nasturtiums will attract the pest in summer and hopefully keep the wee blighters off your other prized plants

to id the plant - isn't there some part that smells bad? leaves, flowers, fruit? I'd go out and check but it's dark

Quote from: Rhubarb Thrasher on October 02, 2008, 22:37:00
to id the plant - isn't there some part that smells bad? leaves, flowers, fruit? I'd go out and check but it's dark

And raining.

Well, there's always tomorrow. ;D ;D

valmarg

Gales tomorrow.................. 8)

I have seen it before but have no idea of the name.

I have copied this list for you, maybe it will help jolt mum's memory. I do not think that it is an Acer or Viburnum.

Trees/Shrubs for Autumnal Foliage
Acer campestre 'Elsrijk'
Acer palmatum & cultivars
Acer platanoides & cultivars
Betula pendula
Euonymus alatus
Fagus sylvatica
Ginko biloba
Larix decidua
Liquidamber styraciflua
Metasequia glyptostroboides
Parrotia persica
Quercus rubra
Rhus typhina
Sorbus aucuparia & cultivars
Viburnum opulus

I'd go with Viburnum opulus.


( http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/11175.shtml )

thanks everyone for taking the time to reply! I think it's probably Viburnum opulus too, although mum's plant had no berries - perhaps it's not mature enough yet. I'm pretty sure I didn't buy it for her so I'm very surprised that she would buy it for herself, loverly though it is. I think of it as a plant that a fairly keen gardener would choose and that's one thing my mum isn't, bless her!

(note to self: must take a cutting next time I visit... ;D)

most people grow Viburnum Opulus "Sterile", which has flowers in a round ball - This one doesn't produce fruit.

aha, that answers that then! thanks RT, maybe I won't bother with a cutting after all.

Quote from: norfolklass on October 06, 2008, 16:48:26
aha, that answers that then! thanks RT, maybe I won't bother with a cutting after all.

why not? it's a lovely plant. Try layering a stem