Hemlock Water Dropwort is in its prime right now. Currently standing over 6ft high with frothy white, or sometimes pinkish flowers. Looks amazing but is highly toxic. It is a thirsty plant, thriving along the riverbanks and water meadows. Its stems are ribbed and hollow, its pretty umbrelled flowers looking like innocent Cow Parsley. But don’t be fooled, its heavy-sweet scent seems to smell menacing when you learn how poisonous it is! Its roots, looking for all the world like a bunch of small parsnips, are known as ‘dead man’s fingers’ and are the most toxic part of the plant.
In the first lockdown, I mounted an offensive on HWD and managed to remove around 90% from our garden, but it was difficult. I soon learned that you have to pull up the entire plant, as the roots will sprout again within days, as will discarded stems, so you have to get rid of it quickly. The large heap I made was too moist to burn and they kept sprouting, but once I spread them out a bit they dried out and died.
Nowadays, when I have to tackle any HWD, I wear my facemask as well as garden gloves, as they are so waterlogged that they tend to spray their toxic juice when cut. But rest assured, it will keel over after flowering and be overtaken by the grasses and reeds in the valley. It will dry out and sink to the ground, putting up fresh green mounds of foliage in the early days of next spring.