Could someone please ID this plant? Whatever it is it is deer, rabbit and mole resistant. Nothing else survived in this patch except this plant so I need to grow some more! I am in northern VA and I usually try to grow plants that are native to VA or will grow well here...i.e. it should be a common species. Is it some kind of sunflower? Thanks for any suggestions!
Don't know this one, but you have a milkweed of some sort behind and to the upper right in the first pic. At least it looks like one, and I believe they are mostly deer resistant. Does this enthusiastic grower have milky sap? I'm thinking it could be something in the larger family, perhaps not genus Asclepias but family Apocynaceae? I'm hoping that the tightish cluster of leaves at the top are presaging a bloom, but the growth may just still be on steroids from some unknown cause. Damn, that's robust looking.
Thanrose: Thank-you for your input! Yup, these things are super robust! I had sedges and asters and all kinds of things in this little patch but I removed the large rocks from the soil prior to planting and around here that is instant death to all plants because over the winter the moles moved in and they just seem to love the areas that are free from rocks and they destroyed almost everything! You are right about the plants in the background...well, you got the right family but it's not Asclepias it's Apocynum cannabinum! An awesome plant that happily spreads everywhere and this species is deer resistant....around here though unless it's Asclepias syriaca, the deer will eat even Asclepias species...we have A. syriaca and A. quadrifolia and unless I protect it the A. quadrifolia is eaten before it can flower! Tyrlych: Thank-you! You got it! Cannot wait to see the flowers!
