Garden Pictures Pictures by Gillian (702 photos)

Look sort of like a coleus. Maybe?

I wondered that. Seems almost, but not quite. I'll let it grow and see if it flowers, that would be a good clue. Don't know how they got in my lawn though!

I agree they look like coleus...are the stems square?

Stems are round. I have grown coleus before and these seemed a bit different somehow.

Hmm, It will be interesting to see what they really are.

really pretty coloured leaves...a type of salvia or celosia?

I was wondering if it might be a type of herb, but couldn't smell anything.

Could be a dark var. of Basil, maybe.

Hi Gillian... I'm pretty sure that this is Perilla " frutescens " It is in the herb family and it should have a very slight minty scent. It reseeds itself very easily.

P. S. When it flowers the flowers are tiny and white going up a longish stem. The seeds blow everywhere and so it's not surprising that you have them in your lawn etc. I will take a photo of mine in my back garden in the morning and post. Mine came along with a plant from a friends garden. The seeds must have been at the base of the plant and it grew the following year. I've had it coming up in the area ever since. They transplant easily once they are a couple inches tall. I like the plant because of the red foliage which contrast well with green.

Ever used it in cooking Mikec?

Ha Ha!
I got a great laugh after googling Perilla. Commonly called Purple Mint, Japanese Basil, and Wild Coleus. All wrong of course, but funny that was all our guesses.

We're obviously more knowledgeable than we realise!
I just googled this also and apparently it can alleviate seafood poisoning also keep ticks away if you rub the leaves on you. It seemed to have a number of medicinal purposes and is meant to be a good companion plant to grow with tomatoes - which is funny, because that's where I planted them while I figured out what they were!

I've never cooked with it. I'm not too crazy about eating something that I really don't know anything about.