wild flower / weed with pinky purple flowers

We've got some of these growing in our garden. I'm assuming that it is a weed, rather than a plant that was cultivated some time in the past. It's not unattractive, however!

 

Some kind of wild mint?

 

iv'e got wild nettles and forget me nots growing in my garden :D ,there welcome weeds ,the reason i mention is because the nettles resemble your picture (not the stingy kind of nettle) ,only the leaves are a little longer and the flower spikes much bigger

 

Armandii - that looks right - well done.

However, you have got me scratching my head now. I have a similar thing in my garden (with a quite distinctive smell ). I have always assumed that it was a Lamium ( I think L. purpureum). But it could well be Stachys sylvatica. I am not sure now. Its spread by runners (they both are), and a real nuisance, although reasonably attractive in full flower.

Mind you, they are both called dead nettle and Lamium and Stachys are very closely related, so perhaps I am not going to worry myself too much.

I am also growing Stachys macrantha, which is similar - but a very much showier plant and clearly not a weed. It flowers for a long period of time and is a first rate plant.

 

Thanks, all. I think that Armandii might well be right.

I've done an image search on Google, and the pics of Stachys sylvatica look very, very similar to mine. The wee florets in the flower head on mine, however, look like they are paler pink, and also look as if they are closer together. The leaves on mine also look longer and narrower.

See, for example Hedge Woundwort - Stachys sylvatica | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I suppose that it is S. Sylvatica, but that there is quite a bit of variation within the species - but I'm finding it hard to be 100% certain.

 

I'd go more for Stachys palustris, the marsh woundwort.

Thats got longer & narrower leaves.

 

Both good for stopping the bleeding when you've had your arm hacked off though

 

Don't forget the Sphagnum moss

 

:D Nice one Armandii

 

And if that fails.......a well hot iron rod rolled gently across the stump is a must.

 

Thanks very much.

S. palustris fits nicely, even though that bit of the garden is not exactly a marsh, nor is it by a stream. However, I did find rushes growing just a few feet away, so it's obviously not the driest bit of ground in the country.