Mystery plant

[Dotty Sarah]

Afternoon all, I'm hoping that one of you lovely grapes will be able to please help my identify this plant/bush. I've been trying for the last month to meet one of my neighbours to find out what it looked like last year but we're never at the allotment at the same time!



The branches are between 5'-7' high and are not woody but fiberous inside. There are no leaves or anything left so no clues, any ideas?

[veggiechicken]

Are the stems brittle?

[Dotty Sarah]

Some of them snapped very easily and seem dead, I tried a couple that didn't snap and decided not to force it. Wasn't sure if it was something I should cut back for regrowth of if there may still be some live bits I should leave alone.

[veggiechicken]

Any sign of new shoots coming up at the base? I'm puzzled by it at the mo but feel that I should know what it is!
I'd leave it for a few weeks and see what happens to it. It will either bud up or send up new shoots ....or die

[Dotty Sarah]

Thanks VC, I'm baffled, it's an unusual shape but I've just no idea!

[veggiechicken]

Could it be asparagus? I don't have any myself so don't know what it looks like overwinter.

[rustylady]

Don't think it's asparagus, doesn't look quite right somehow and surely there would be more than one. I think the best bet is to wait and see what happens when things start growing again.

[Dotty Sarah]

The picture doesn't really do it justice, there's a whole bed of it, some are just straight stems. Could asparagus get that tall?

[Veggielot]

Only had my asparagus a year so no expert but it looks a bit woody to for me. Having said that I didn't leave any over winter.

[RedThorn]

asparagus reaches 5-7ft?

[rustylady]

The picture doesn't really do it justice, there's a whole bed of it, some are just straight stems. Could asparagus get that tall?

In that case it could well be asparagus. Asparagus can get very tall. It's hard to tell from your original picture whether there are large stems coming from large stems (like a bush if you know what I mean) or whether each stem originates from the ground.

[veggiechicken]

Since asparagus is normally cut down before winter, probably not many people will recognise it as asparagus anyway

[RedThorn]

Thank you RL, never grown asparagus, yay learn't another thing today!!!

[veggiechicken]

Don't worry, RT, You won't need to dunk a 7' long asparagus spear in your boiled egg

[RedThorn]

I as worried about the size of the egg needed... and the egg's mother.....