Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) in flower in Scarborough on 13 Sept 2016

Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) is a fast growing, invasive perennial with a terrible reputation for spreading and excluding other native plants. Its roots are also capable of breaking through concrete and other man-made materials (1).

Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) in flower in Scarborough on 13 Sept 2016

But it’s not all bad! It looks quite nice when it is flower, right now in September, and it’s good for bees and insects. Another blogger beat me to the excellent title ‘knotty but nice’ (2) and there is a lot out there on the Web on it’s good-for-beeness!

Honey bee on Japanese Knotweed flowers

There seems to be some debate on bee fora (forums) about the tastiness of Knotweed honey, which is sometimes sold as ‘bamboo honey’ in the US apparently. I’d like to try it; bet it’s nice.

Honey bee on Japanese Knotweed flowers

1. http://www.knotweed-uk.com/Japanese-knotweed-Guidelines.html
2. http://honeybeesuite.com/knotty-but-nice-for-bees/