Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Help? Calling out to Folc gardeners. :)

Hello,

Last fall we had a three foot tall tarragon bush in the back yard. We had just moved in to the house and never had time to take care of the yard before the winter, so the bush ended up being covered totally in snow. The snow was quite deep all around. At least four feet deep around and a foot or more on top.

Once the snow melted the tarragon bush was all dried up and dead (root was fine) because we did not harvest.

We cut the dead off and was just left with the roots in place.

Now a few months later, we have found that we have about two feet high of growth. However, it looks much different than the bush we were left with. In the fall it looked like this...perhaps the growth was a bit darker:


Now we are left with a plant that has leaves that are totally different. I do not have a picture at the moment, but I will try my best to describe.

They are wider than those above. About four to five times wider. They are also a sickly light coloured green with a mild white stripe in the middle. The leaves are a bit wrinkly.

Are these some sort of 'young leaves' that will leave and something more mature will take its place? Or instead they will morph into a different type of leaf?

I have tried to find pictures online using Google, but I have had no luck. I have found references to 'young leaves' in terms of using French tarragon for cooking, but I am clueless as to what that is.

Does anyone have any advise or info that could help me figure out why the bush looks so odd? It is not pretty anymore! Did we wreck it?

THANKS!
If posting a picture of what it looks like now helps, please let me know.

Sorry, I have to rush off. Husand wants to eat dinner now.

Cheers!

Roo, are you sure it wasn't taken over by a giant weed or a previous plant that had been there? I have had weed grow to a few feet if left and also look like plants. Also, sometimes old plants will reroot themselves and take over. Otherwise I have no idea why it would survive but look different.

Jackie

ACK evil weeds. No I don't know...I'll have to ask the former owner of the house when they pop round next. (Former friend of the the in-laws and neighbors.)

I made an error. I went and looked at the plant again.

'They' is in reference to the leaves (sorry).

Also, I reversed the leaf colours in error. They have a green stripe in the middle with white on either side.

Thanks for your advice jackiek

I suspect it's a weed - French Tarragon is a very tender perennial - it doesn't take to being cold enough to be snowed on. (one good check - does it smell like tarragon?)

I don't know the answer to this one, specifically, but I've found the BBC's gardening website's Garden Clinic mbs to be very helpful with garden questions. Someone there might have an answer for you.

LabRat

Thanks all.

It's very weird that it's growing in the exact spot the tarragon was and it is growing in the same manner.

It smells very faintly of something...good and sweet. However not like licorice like it did last year.

I shall check out that website you sugested Labbie. Thanks!

Here are some happy faces to all (not my garden of course!):