What kind of plant is this???

Donna Marie P
by Donna Marie P
It's growing like wildfire in my yard and i've never seen it before.
  54 answers
  • Jamie M Jamie M on May 01, 2012
    New one on me too!
  • Michelle G Michelle G on May 01, 2012
    Well, it's an awfully pretty weed if it is one. :)
  • Terri W Terri W on May 01, 2012
    looks like phlox...was your yard always like this, or is it a house you bought recently??
  • Terri W Terri W on May 01, 2012
    if it is phlox they spread underground with rhizomes...
  • Terri W Terri W on May 01, 2012
    NOT phlox...(due to non-smooth edges) hmmm good luck with that!
  • Leighton B Leighton B on May 01, 2012
    milk weed
  • Shannon S Shannon S on May 01, 2012
    This could be the weed that tries to take over my herb garden - is it really easy to pluck out of the ground? Because the weeds I have that look like this are easily plucked.
  • 81591 81591 on May 01, 2012
    If it's growing like wildfire, it's probably a weed or an awfully invasive perennial = boo.
  • Christiane S Christiane S on May 01, 2012
    I don't know what it is, but if I like the looks of a wild plant I keep it for a while or transplant to another area if it is not where I would like it. Wild native plants require very little in upkeep and care.
  • Criss N Criss N on May 01, 2012
    could it be bachelor buttons?
  • Michelle C Michelle C on May 01, 2012
    Not sure what it's called but has pretty yellow flowers when it blooms....I have some too
  • Pam H Pam H on May 01, 2012
    They look like possibly Sweet William, very pretty late spring flowers
  • Kathy B Kathy B on May 01, 2012
    look like the blue Hybrid bachelor buttons I have some blooming right now in my yard in Iowa
  • Kathy B Kathy B on May 01, 2012
    If the yellow flower goes with them then I don;t know
  • Annelise B Annelise B on May 01, 2012
    does it have a smell when you break the leaves?
  • Laura S Laura S on May 01, 2012
    I think that I would thin it out pretty drastically, but keeping a few to see if you like them, if not then you only have a little bit to take out. You can also see what the root stock is, that will help identify the plant
  • Vicki W Vicki W on May 01, 2012
    The purple color inside the one pic suggests wild sage, at least that is what it looks like up here... Take to local AG office and have them tell you then POST IT here . :)
  • Kay C Kay C on May 01, 2012
    I think its an abusive wildflower I love those have them not really a bad but the flowers are terriffic. they sell them at lowes! Purple daisy like considered to be invasive..Keep rocks around them and they cant get out.
  • Missy C Missy C on May 01, 2012
    skunk cabbage?
  • Carol S Carol S on May 01, 2012
    I think same weed ..I have keeps coming back..part energizer bunny!!!
  • Patricia H Patricia H on May 01, 2012
    frightening, but the 'purple' suggests it might be 'Pokeweed'. I found some that birds must have planted in my yard a couple years ago. Hard to get rid of, but interesting to see. Grows huge!!! (if that is what it is)
  • Bernice J Bernice J on May 01, 2012
    Take some into Miner's - their garden dept. folks are VERY well versed in all this stuff!
  • Paula H Paula H on May 01, 2012
    sweet william
  • Alicia B Alicia B on May 01, 2012
    I would go with milk weed as well I was so allergic to it as a child and it looks just like it! It will get large green seed pods later in the summer if it is. They will erupt and seeds will blow like beautiful large snow flakes!
  • Stacy G Stacy G on May 01, 2012
    I would say that is phlox, it will flower in the summer
  • Beth O Beth O on May 01, 2012
    if it is a weed pluck out one of the bunches the smallest and take it to a farmers market there are always the county extension agent at them this time of year they would know. good luck
  • Sharron W Sharron W on May 01, 2012
    It's NOT Bachelor Buttons the leaves are entirely too wide and too closely spaced, it's not sweet William for the same reason. It's NOT Phlox, the entire leaf is too large and again too closely compacted... It almost looks like an asiatic lily, like the stargazer lily but without having something to show the scale of the plant it's hard to say...
  • Janice S Janice S on May 01, 2012
    The purple stem and rough edges tell me its a weed.
  • Janice S Janice S on May 01, 2012
    You have two different plants there. The bushy one is a flower.
  • Linda M Linda M on May 01, 2012
    It's a weed and it will choke out other plants
  • Donna K Donna K on May 01, 2012
    I agree with Sharron W. Not any of those plants. It looks like some kind of Helios (yellow flowers). Fiberous, or tap root? What do they do throughout the year, and kind of seed pods? Remember... a rose in a field of wheat is the "weed"... :) <3 oh,and, I don't know what it is. LOL
  • Terri M Terri M on May 01, 2012
    Let one grow to see what it is. If it is a milk weed that i have they are beautiful pink round blooms and smells very fragrant. If it is a phlox they are beautiful flowers as well. Take a leaf to your closest gardener he should know.
  • Sarah H Sarah H on May 01, 2012
    it's a weed! I have it in my yard too.
  • Carol Ann G Carol Ann G on May 01, 2012
    It isn't Bachelor Buttons. I have a large bed where they are growing profusely. The leaves are right. The leaves don't look big enough for milkweed (the food for the monarch butterfly caterpillar).
  • Angela Y Angela Y on May 01, 2012
    Anaphalis, This is a weed. Does it flower?
  • Tod M Tod M on May 01, 2012
    It is a type of Lilly and they are about to bloom in No. Cal
  • Tod M Tod M on May 01, 2012
    Mine have Yellow Flowers and I have a few with Orange Flowers.
  • Susan F Susan F on May 01, 2012
    The third picture, the one with the purple in the middle, looks like purple coneflower to me except I never had ones with jagged leaves. Could there be some other variety of coneflower that has leaves like that?
  • Tina L Tina L on May 01, 2012
    It's a weed, yank it out before it goes to seed
  • Liz Liz on May 01, 2012
    Centaurea? The blue bachelor buttons type that spreads.
  • Cheryl K Cheryl K on May 01, 2012
    It looks like a Phlox to me too...as I have many in my flower bed and I was the one that put them there. They will take off and get fairly tall too.
  • Donna R Donna R on May 01, 2012
    Queens Annes Lace. They are a weed but if you let them grow and use them for cut flowers you can put food coloring in the water and the flowers will change to that color.
  • Lindsey C Lindsey C on May 01, 2012
    looks like swamp daisies/swamp sunflower. if it gets 6 feet tall with yellow blooms in the fall, then that's what it is! i love it, except it can get heavy as it grows and fall over. i've been told that you can cut it to about 3 ft in June to encourage bushiness and more blooms.
  • Bernice H Bernice H on May 01, 2012
    Ha! Interesting post! What IS this mysetry Plant, and will she tell us when she finds out???
  • Dauna O Dauna O on May 01, 2012
    I think that it IS Mexican Sage, but would have to see it in bloom to know for sure. It has tall purple flower, like salvia and is very pretty when planted in a mass grouping witn corepsis or Rudbeckias blooming next to it.
  • Sandy R Sandy R on May 01, 2012
    bachelor button?
  • Renee B Renee B on May 01, 2012
    Probably a wild flower of some kind...if it's got a square stem it is an invasive plant and most likely a weed. But, it's pretty.
  • Sharron W Sharron W on May 03, 2012
    @Susan F. Coneflower leaves are hairy aren't they? Or am I confused...I haven't had any in several years since I reworked my beds but I thought I remembered them being prickly... @Renee B a square stem is usually identified with plants related to the Mint family and while they CAN be invasive, they can also be controlled and quite useful...
  • Terri M Terri M on May 04, 2012
    i have cone flowers and the leaves do not look like that
  • Donna Marie P Donna Marie P on May 06, 2012
    Well thanks everyone .... lots to think about ... I'll figure it out and let you know.
    • GrandmaCarol Speight GrandmaCarol Speight on Feb 07, 2015
      @Donna Marie P did you ever find out what it is?....Ever consider of digging up a speciman and taking it to a garden centre that employees someone with a degree in plant identification? I would include all the photos you have accummulated over time, of the plant as well. Good luck,(IF still on an identifying mission..lolol)......and will wait to hear the outcome!
  • Jill Thurow Jill Thurow on Mar 23, 2015
    It is a weed.
  • Leslieb127 Leslieb127 on May 09, 2015
    I love all these answers, but have one comment. There is no such thing as a "weed". As a horticulture major in college I learned that the definition of a weed is simply "a plant out of place". A daisy in the middle of a rose garden is therefore a weed, for example. So whatever the plant is (and I agree that it would help tremendously to see the flower it produces), it is only a weed if you decide it doesn't belong there.
    • Sue Kiene Sue Kiene on Jul 01, 2016
      LOL you have it backwards. All flowers are weeds. We just like some of them and dislike others. Have a wonderful day!!!1
  • Christina Dorrego Christina Dorrego on Jun 13, 2015
    I remember my dad (who was a bit critical when it came to me, only child) commented on a plant I bought that I loved. it was a coleus and I thought the reds and greens were very striking. When I proudly showed him this colorful and slightly fuzzy plant he said, " you know that's a weed, right?" and that was over 20 years ago. I thought to myself, but I like it, so to me it isn't a weed!!! That stuck with me, and even a rose is a weed. In fact, every single plant we have are weeds. We just like them placed here and there....so pphhtttt on "that's a weed". If I like it, it's a gorgeous planned garden.
  • JRS JRS on Aug 03, 2016
    The definition of a weed is a plant you don't want.