Woman who spent months lovingly nurturing plant makes hilarious discovery

Gardening really is a labour of love as you become finely tuned into knowing what your plants need to keep them thriving.

Those with green fingers can spend hours and hours each week checking on the condition of the leaves and state of the soil to ensure their crop is keeping healthy and happy.

One such woman who had spent months watering and feeding a plant in her garden reaped the rewards of her hard work, watching it flourish, as reported by the Daily Star.

Having taken the plant under her wing, she decided to do some more research to identify exactly what the species was and how best to care for it.

But her quest quickly produced an unexpected result - and she shared the findings to a Facebook group to give other gardeners 'a good laugh'.

That's because it turned out the plant she had been lovingly caring for over a number of months was in fact a weed.

With no intention of letting her hard work go to waste, she pledged to continue looking after the fireweed, as it does produce flowers.

Posting to the Gardening On A Budget Official Facebook group, she said: “Might as well post this… Give you all a good laugh…

"I’ve been watering and feeding this pot for months, well since last year… And I’ve just realised…

"It’s a WEED. But I’ve done some research and it does have pretty purple flowers so I’m keeping it."

Fireweeds grow to produce bright flowers which makes it an easy mistake to make - and one which many other members of the group confessed to making themselves.

One commented: “I've done exactly the same, I was really proud of how it was flourishing.”

Another admitted: “I have done the same mistake.”

A third added: “Omg. I’ve been watering mine too! I put some wild flower seeds last year and thought they could be it! Thanks for clarifying that for me."

It's not the first time someone has made a misidentification of a plant, after Caelie Wilkes discovered the reason her succulent remained in 'perfect' condition for two years wasn't down to her love and dedication.

She even admitted to having a strict watering plan for it, saying she would get 'defensive' if anybody else tried to take on the responsibility.

It was only when she went to re-pot the succulent that she noticed it was 'completely plastic'.