ID this please

[Littleguggi]

Sorry, me again! I really haven't got a clue about my garden have I! There are 2 plants/flowers I'd like identifying please? I've taken 2 pictures of each..

And this..

This one sorry..

second one looks like eucalyptus

I think the top is toadflax and the bottom snowberry.

I think first is Linaria and second is Eucalyptus

First one is purple toadflax, a native plant, but really pretty. We have loads of it in our garden. It self-seeds, but you just pull up the ones you don't want. Every now and again we get a random pink one. Bees particularly love it.

Second one is a eucalyptus.

Wow that's interesting thanks guys! I've heard of eucalyptus oil, is that from the same plant? I wonder if its something I could make? 🤔

Yes, Linaria purpurea, purple toadflax, not actually native, but naturalised. Eucalyptus, my first reaction would be juvenile growth of E. gunni, but yamadori would have said that if it was identifiable from the picture, so presumably juvenile growth of several Eucalyptuses is similar.

Eucalyptus oil comes from the leaves, so you could make it for yourself, but probably not for commercial use:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus_oil

This tells you how to do it:
www.bottlestore.com/blog/how-to-make-your-own-essential-oils-for-good-health/

You can also steep eucalyptus leaves in oil, but that just gives you eucalyptus-flavoured oil, rather than extracting the oile that is in the eucalyptus.

Some eucalyptuses get enormous. We've got one which self seeded into a pot which is now a slightly eccentric 8ft standard. If you rub a leaf you should be able to smell the oil.

Some eucalyptuses get enormous. I think most of them do. But often they are repeatedly pruned both to stay small and to retain the juvenile foliage, as in the pic, rather than move on to the more linear mature leaves.

@MereDintofPandiculation

Yes, Linaria purpurea, purple toadflax, not actually native, but naturalised. Eucalyptus, my first reaction would be juvenile growth of E. gunni, but yamadori would have said that if it was identifiable from the picture, so presumably juvenile growth of several Eucalyptuses is similar.

Eucalyptus oil comes from the leaves, so you could make it for yourself, but probably not for commercial use:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus_oil

This tells you how to do it:
www.bottlestore.com/blog/how-to-make-your-own-essential-oils-for-good-health/

You can also steep eucalyptus leaves in oil, but that just gives you eucalyptus-flavoured oil, rather than extracting the oile that is in the eucalyptus.

I was going to say eucalyptus gunnii and then changed my mind!

My experience is that they don't much care for being pruned, and are fussy about being repotted. I had one but it died.

My experience is that they don't much care for being pruned, I was being sloppy there, I should have said coppiced, which is a recommended technique for retaining the juvenile foliage.

I managed to kill one too. Quite pleased - it took up residence in the garden without invitation, and I find them quite boring.

There's one in our village that must be about 60 feet tall now, and the trunk is massive. The bark peels off in strips and dangles down.

I've never liked them, but have been thoroughly put off by the plantations in Portugal - all uniform, very little plant life, and the fallen leaves and bark make it very difficult to walk.

@MereDintofPandiculation

I've never liked them, but have been thoroughly put off by the plantations in Portugal - all uniform, very little plant life, and the fallen leaves and bark make it very difficult to walk.

They don't belong in Portugal, do they, not that many of them anyway. Especially since forests of them catch fire so easily.

Oh gosh I noticed today how huge the eucalyptus is!! It's massive, like 8-12ft, that's if I'm looking at the right thing! The picture I took is off a small newish branch right at the bottom of the tree/ near the roots. The rest of it is very high! I might need to get a professional in! I'll try and take a picture of the whole bloody thing tomorrow in the daylight! Thank you for all your responses!

Get rid of the eucalyptus while you can do so easily!

@WowOoo can I ask why you would recommend I get rid of it completely?

They just get massive OP and my parents' one broke off in the wind eventually and they later had the whole thing taken out. They are just too big for the average garden.

I take your point, I've just been reading up about them and I didn't realise they could get so big and sometimes fall! Which would happen to be on my neighbours conservatory! 😱

I said get rid because in Australian forests they do very well. They are not native and so fast growing you’ll need to get a pro in to remove tree if you leave it for years. Lovely smelling leaves.

We inherited one in our front garden, it needed pruning every year and grew very quickly. The roots spread over a large area, so we had it removed as it was too close to the house. I now have one in a planter, the new leaves are pretty and I cut them for flower arrangements.

They don't belong in Portugal, do they, not that many of them anyway. No, they're Portugal's Sitka Spruce, widely planted in coastal regions around Lisbon for profit and soil stabilisation. They're Australian, food of koalas, though I've read that all species of Eucalyptus are mildly poisonous to Koalas, who therefore have to keep hopping around from species to species. There are some species who you feel are on a deliberate pathway to extinction - koalas, giant pandas, the beetles eat only a cabbage plant found only on Lundy island, a smut fungus found only on the rare birds eye primrose.