Friend or foe?

I recently moved into a new house in arlington wa. This is coming up in one of the beds below a big Doug fir. About 2" across now, appears to have one to 2 small flower buds on each and is a single stem with small bulb.

Should I let it stay?

 

If no answer soon, monitor it and post a photo when it flowers.

 

Trientalis borealis. Western Starflower. Native. Yup, little pink potato like tuber somewhat shaped like a swan.

 

Thank you, will leave it be

 

Keep in mind that Trientalis borealis spreads quite rapidly via underground rhizomes. This is charming when you want an unstructured, wild look in your garden but, if you like to confine plants to set areas, Starflower will not cooperate.

 

True. It will spread, but we love the blanket of green it provides as a ground cover and the charming star-like pink flowers are much loved by bumblebees and other pollinators (and me). Drought tolerant, maintenance free.

 

Here it is blooming. The flowers do have a pink blush not showing up in the photos

 

Yup. Trientalis borealis.

 

Now Lysimachia borealis. Friend, keep.

 

Funny. Give it a few years and the nomenclature will change back. I'll keep an eye on any new editions of Pojar to see if they changed the Genus.