I have these two plants growing in my Southwest Garden in Yuma, Az. They are pretty but they appear to be getting ready to flower so I want to get rid of it all if it's a weed. They are simular but have a slightly different leaf shape. Any help would be appreciated.
Hmm, I wonder if you have a combination of both hairy fleabane and horseweed (see here for comparison: Fleabane and sowthistle and groundsel, oh my! How to tell some of the common Asteraceae weeds apart. ) That one plant looks like it should have open flowers within the week. If you can get a close-up, that would verify -- but there is going to be a small time window from flower to fruit in these. Also, many Asteraceae can still mature their fruit from the energy reserves in the adjacent part of the plant, so even if the plant is pulled up at the early flowering stage, you wouldn't want to keep it to use as mulch or compost.
Thank you so darn much. I pulled both immediately and dug out what I could of the roots! I had a feeling I shouldn't have let them grow this much. Was hoping it was a flower I forgot I planted. Your help was very appreciated.
