I've never seen anything like it either. Strange action, almost like it was trying to spring free of the soil, loosen its roots - something. I wonder if there was some tiny thing underground nibbling on its roots, so tiny it wasn't disturbing any other plant nearby.

Very very weird. Amazing video.

We wondered about underground critters too but the activity never varied and at times was quite aggressive almost like it was trying to escape from something. Always the plant moved in the same direction. The dried leaf of the garlic plant to the left of it touches the stem of the plant but the garlic plant itself never seemed to move.

Two things changed ... the temp rose and the sun started to appear from behind the clouds and the movement has stopped. I've lots more videos taken over the two hours or so of observation. All similar. Posted about it in the "All things gardening" forum as well to see if anyone had any ideas. Very unusual. The thread "What is happening here?" in All Things Gardening forum

Oh yes ... the borage will be along later : )

Good - I'm anxiously waiting for the borage!

Flaubert - "Pleasure is found first in anticipation, later in memory."

No chance it's a spider web?

No sign of a spider web anywhere in the vicinity. Looked carefully for that too. There's no sign of any other activity ... even the tiny plants close to the ground didn't move when this plant was "dancing". Only other movement is the dried garlic leaf and the plant to the left that it hits as it flings itself back upright. Just checked again now the sun has gone down and the air is still. Standing perfectly still now. I'll check early in the morning.

Odd.
I'll be waiting to find out if there's any other activity.
That must have freaked you out. My first thought was ?snake? & that's what I would look for first. Non poisonous are fine but the poisonous ones.....

Don't laugh ... I've just been out with a flash light to check and see if anything changed with the cooler temps. Nothing happening. Standing tall and still like all the other non-dancing companions.

We don't have poisonous snakes in our neck of the woods so my first thought when I saw movement from the corner of my eye was that I had disturbed a large insect like a dragonfly, and I assumed as it flew off it caused the movement of the plant. But then the movement continued and it was irregularly repetitive ... always in the same direction. So that's when I hurried in to get a camera with video capability.

Brought hubby out to see it when he woke a few hours later, but by then it was behaving like all the other plants in the bed ... moving slightly with the breeze that had picked up. It had put its dancing shoes away. He scrutinized the videos but his scientist brain could come up with no explanation either.

Very strange but we'll check it again in the morning and report back

No doubt I'd be out there with a flashlight too - all night long.
I've been looking a little closer at mine today for sure.

Good possibility I might be out again to check before dawn

Hmmm...for me all I see is the black box the video is supposed to be in. I'll try again later. I'd really like to see this one!

It's fascinating Chelle!

tinpins, good thing you got it on camera or your hubs might have thought you had gone over the edge!

Wonder why you can't see it chelle ... I'll post the video here too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

And it it still doesn't work try goggling "Agitated plant" on youtube.

A plant that is repeatedly bending over and then springing back upright with no sign of any interference and no trickery involved. Without video evidence I don't think anyone would have believed me

This time it played!

That action had my eyes opened wide! Fascinating! It couldn't even respond that way if you tried tying a string to it and yanking it. When it got to the part that the plant went way over, I thought, there's no way a burrowing animal caused that. It doesn't just rise back up, it springs!

Bizarre moment there, tinpins...thanks for sharing it!

Amazing isn't it. I have about six more videos that I took at the same time until I couldn't stand in a bent over position any longer And anyway, they were all the same. It lasted for a good 90 minutes. Then the temp rose, the sun came up and there was a bit of a breeze and it then behaved like its neighbours ... just a bit of gentle movement in the breeze. We thought about underground critters too (what though?) but then look at the way the plant moves and that doesn't work either. Very, very strange.

Twice before midnight I slipped out with a flashlight to check on our dancing plant.

Not a twitch.

And this morning's update at 6.30 a.m.

There's a very gentle rain falling and this is what I saw.

Absolutely motionless. Still over this little incident.