What is this white flower, please?

[RosaSkye]

Growing on tall stems , mostly white but there’s one pink one. Have I planted it?! Is it invasive?!

thank you!

Could it be valerian? Centranthus rubra album

Possibly white valerian; the red/pink variety seems to be more common and, yes, it does seed everywhere if that's what it is.

If you've got an iPhone, my latest amazing discover is that if you swipe up on a picture you've taken of a plant there is a built-in plant identifier!



Just working out how to attach a photo...

Could be Valerie’s a weed but very pretty

Sorry Valerium

This is what the plant ID says

Pretty sure it's Valerian. Yes it will self-seed everywhere, but it's pretty and the white version is more uncommon than the pink version. It's easy to pull up in the places where you don't want it.

Fantastic knowledge on every level! Thank you all. I’ve put it in a vase so it’s good to know it’s not toxic!

amazed at the iPhone thing… checking mine now!

@Sleepthief omg that's brilliant! Thanks for the info, I had no idea Apple had done that.

It's very attractive to butterflies and moths. The last time I saw a hummingbird hawk-moth it was feeding on valerian.

It’s not Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) it’s Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber), which despite its common name and its specific name (ruber) comes in red, pink and white. I think everyone who said “Valerian” actually meant “Red Valerian”

Once again the app is completely wrong

It’s not brilliant if it’s given a completely wrong answer, though, is it?

If you have houseplants have a quick check for aphids. I brought some of the pink stuff into the house the first year I lived here, loads comes up - and I didn't check it. It was pitted with them. This year it's too hot and dry and there isn't much in the shallow borders, interestingly.

Thank you for clarifying! That makes complete sense now you’ve told me, as when I googled Valerian I couldn’t understand why mine was a different shape/leaf

Yep, guilty as charged! 😅

@Grumblevision very good point, thank you.

For context we bought a renovation project a couple of years ago and over the summers all sorts has popped up, I’m never quite sure what has blown in/was planted many moons ago/was planted by me!

@MereDintofPandiculation but if you scroll down it suggests other possibilities...

Well, the second possibility doesn't appear to be any better than the first!

What were its other suggestions?