Hello all, and thanks for your help in advance. I have several beautiful volunteers in my yard that I haven't been able to identify. Can anyone help? Images below. Thanks!
Number one might be Chives (Allium spp), or it might be Red Hot Pokers (Knifophia spp) Number four might be a Dandilion (Taraxicum officianale) or a related thistle of some sort.... The others look vaguely familiar, but I'd say they're for Lila or Ron B or Micheal F or someone else who really knows their North American plants.
Beautiful but all likely weeds Agree - #4 is a dandelion #1 looks like a rush, most likely bog rush - Juncus effusus
No. 5 looks like a type of rock moss; my book shows many kinds. No. 3 I'd like to know myself... I had one come up in my veg patch last year, I let it grow to see what it did, and it got quite tall, about 2ft. and it flowered, I think, pink. ... anyway, I'm sure it's a "weed", but of course one person's weed is another person's orchid, right? If I see it again I'll let it grow.
No3 looks like a willowherb; my books don't mention the redness, but I've seen it on plants in my garden that I'm sure are willowherbs. They're pink in flower, at least all the ones I've seen are.
thanks nic, willowherb, aka Fireweed, is what #3 is. My book says this can grow from .8 - 3m tall... mine was definitely the shorter version. If #2 is Wall Lettuce, it'll be a taproot with a milky juice. This is related to garden lettuce and is edible but tastes quite bitter. It'll have the same tiny little yellow flower
Incidentally, if you decide to keep the Wall Lettuce, the youngest shoots are far less bitter. Same principle as eating Dandilion leaves in your salads - pick 'em young for good flavour. and on an odd note, my cat has thumbs. yours too??
Thank you everyone! This has given me a really good start with Google. Yes, they're all 'weeds' but I'm of the 'it looks good, it stays' camp. Although I tried that clump of grass and definitely not chives. Blech. And yes, in reply to the cat query, Frances is thumbed.