Anyone know what these are? The owner thought they where weeds and tried to kill them with bleach! Could the one on the left be a hosta? It had a huge clump at ground level and this was the only growth left! There's a slight yellow/white variegation on the leaves.
The one on the right may be invasive because they are popping up everywhere in that garden but I like it! Its leaves are quite strong almost plastic..ish they are folded in the center and folded again near the edges, kinda like a.. W
Its getting dark now but I can take some closeups tomorrow if needed.

Plant on the right maybe a Spathoglottis Orchid.

Hi syzone8aUK,

The one on the left does resemble Hostas (Hosta)

The one on the right I'm not sure; it reminds me of a few different plants but I don't know what would be hardy in your area of the world ... time will tell what you have, once you get blooms!

It seems unlikely to me that a tropical orchid would be popping up everywhere in an Irish garden. They do look similar though.

The Bletilla and the Phaius are both from temperate climates.
Sy, assuming you potted them, did the one on the right have any type of bulb?

@ctcarol, I just learned recently (and was quite surprised) that Bletilla are hardy to zone 6a and I think it gets quite cold in that zone.

Yes, Bletilla and Phaius both grow well in the colder climates. The Spathoglottis , however is tropical. They do well in Florida.

Plant on the right looks like a pandan (Pandanus)

Thanks everyone. No bulbs carol! It seems hardy.. there's lots of new one's popping up along side the weeds. I checked the stem..ish parts and they feel triangular, could it be Carex sylvatica. ?
http://www.irishwildflowers.ie... wood sedge

Got more pictures today:

For comparison, some images of Carex roots: https://www.google.com/search?...

Well, that eliminates Bletilla. I don't know about the other two orchids that were suggested.

You're search is dropping the carex tag lin its givin you images of fagus sylvativa roots! A native beech tree in northern ireland!
I didnt see many pictures but the description says carex sylvatica has short rhizomes and fibrous roots. They are in the cyperaceae family and there are 90 species of carex in N.Ireland.. most are native.
I'll keep looking. I've took some pics of the little ones popping up!



















Edit: it does look like pandan pandanus feng.

That's weird, when I click on this link I get images of Carex grass roots, not Fagus: https://www.google.com/search?...

Lets see if this one works, more root images of carex roots: https://www.google.com/search?...

I don't know if Mondo grass grows in your part of the world but if not Pandanus, maybe a variety of Ophiopogon? http://garden.org/plants/searc...

Thanks lin i see the carex roots. ophiopogon has came up a few times so has spiderplant! Theres so many possibilities and without a bloom reference I'm goin in circles.

Like you said lin "time will tell"

Just thought I'd update this post since I may have made a mistake! I mentioned that it had a triangular stem! I just realised that the id'ing of grass/sedge/reid by stem is referring to the flower stalk!
Lets see if I can explain what I have!
It seems to be climbing ontop of itself! So far its only putting out leaves in 3 directions and the leaves are folded in the center and its giving the stem part a hollow triangular form!
I can wait till it blooms for an id I just wanted to update the post with a few new pics!
I've now got about 8 pups forming around the base, about 4 good sized ones and the rest just emerging.

Hi Sy.
I search for Carex sylvatica as you mentioned before. Yes, the folding leaves look similar. Wish it flower soon so we can sure what this mysterious plant is

Just an update, while exploring the woods I have found the mystery plant in large numbers in small areas! Some pics included, mature plants can have leaves up to 3' long and I believe there are 2 different species here wide leaved and narrow leaved! I have observed young and mature plants of both types and distinguished that the width of the leaves are not based on age.










Unfortunately my battery got that low I couldn't use my camera to take a pic of the narrow leaved type, I will get a few pics for comparison next time I'm out.

Found a few more specimens with old flower spikes! bracts still intact! Triangular stems (Sedge) reacing over 2m in height!
I sent an email and a few pics to irishwildflowers.ie and I've got a reply saying its pendulous sedge (carex pendula)
Considered as an invasive weed in some places!

Thats nice to have the name finally