Looks like a nasturtium

[Cola82]

So, the quick version of this story is that I salvaged this plant from a pot that my boyfriend's sister left at our house. I wasn't sure what it was, but it had an established root system and some green nubs at the top. Many months later, it looks like this, but it hasn't flowered or anything. I also have nasturtiums planted nearby, but their leaves are smooth, with rounder edges. Their stems also seem to go all over the place. On this plant, all of the leaves are coming from a central node, and they're fuzzy all over. They start off growing like a fan and unfold as they get bigger.

There's a weed in my yard that grows in a similar way, but the leaves are crinkly, with round edges, and no fuzz. They're also darker.

So, I don't know... I'm trying to figure out what it is, because if it isn't anything, I don't know why I'm wasting a perfectly good pot on it.

[hendi_alex]

Looks a bit like nasturtium but nasturtium has smooth edges on the leaves. I'm thinking that the plant could be round leaf Mallow.

[purpleinopp]

Maybe Heucherella or Alchemilla.

[Cola82]

Well now I know that mallow is the weed growing in my yard, but I took a photo of the two leaves beside each other so that you can see what I mean when I said the weed had crinkly leaves and the potted plant had smooth ones with a lot of fuzz.

In my yard:


Compared:


I think purpleinopp got it with alchemilla. I looked up photos and it seemed pretty much exactly right. Especially the way water beads on the leaves. Photo from wikimedia: Hanson59 at the German language Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons



Based on what I'm reading, it should be sending out flowers any time now. I guess I'll know whether I want to keep it after it does.

ETA: Thanks so much you two. I really appreciate the assistance.

[applestar]

Haha late to the party but my guesses were Heuchera or Lady's Mantle also.

[Mr_bobo_]

In pot I believe it is : Alchemilla mollis

...weed in your garden is: Malva sylvestris

[purpleinopp]

As flat as your leaf is, I'm not sure that's what it is. Pics can be deceiving though. Do they hold drops of water? (The leaves, not the pics - HA!) That is the most striking feature of Alchemilla, AFAIK. Flowers would definitely help.

[Cola82]

Yeah, seeing photos of water beading on the leaves is what really cinched Lady's Mantle for me--whenever I water them, it pools in the pleats of the smaller leaves. On the bigger ones it just rolls right off.

You can see the fan shape on the smaller leaves very clearly:



Fuzzy:



I'll let you guys know when/if it blooms. Right now it isn't even sending out anything that looks like buds. I may not be taking good care of it, since I didn't know what it was.

[purpleinopp]

That's cool if you've convinced yourself. Just wanted to make sure you weren't led astray by me. Might just be too young to bloom. Some perennials need a few years under their belt. I haven't had this one but a friend in OH (when I lived there) was crazy about it, she had a lot of it that I'd see often. Those drops of water on the leaves really are cool.

[Cola82]

Well let me put it this way: it's not as though I'm in love with the idea of having Lady's Mantle. I still have no idea whether I really want it, which is why I'm going to give it time to maybe bloom.

All I know for sure is that my boyfriend's sister planted this deliberately in a pot on my patio last summer and then left it here for the winter. She was in an uncomfortable period of transition in her life, so I considered the backyard her space until she left and didn't touch her plants or ask about them. Her plants all went dormant or died over the winter, but when she came back for the pots last February, she didn't want what was in them. I spotted a tiny green leaf coming out of a woody root while I was digging around in the pot and decided to just toss it into an empty pot I had on hand and see what happened. (This is basically my whole approach to gardening.) It could still be a weed or some other flower, but after looking dozens of photos on Google, I'd be pretty surprised.

So anyway, I took a picture when I watered it today. Part of the reason it's so floppy could be because I hadn't watered it all week and it's been very warm. It's also been less happy ever since I took it out of the rocky mix I originally planted it in--originally for some long gone bamboo--and put it in potting soil.

[purpleinopp]

What is it about those drops of water? This would tuck nicely into one of many little shady holes around here. I think I'm wanting this plant now...

Nice pic, and I always love a good plant story! Enjoyed reading.