Friends, It's a fast-grower. No flowering yet, but distinctive leaves. I wonder if anyone has a handle on this one?
Hi Toni, I know I know. I was so abrupt because I have been pulling that particular weed out all summer long. If you hear grinding noises, it is from my teeth gnashing and gnarling. If it is the plant I think it is, it grows maybe 2 feet tall, has a soft moist stem & nondescript white flowers that are more like off-white fuzz than flowers. The plant's only redeeming value is that it can be easily pulled out!
Possible Erechtites. Makes a significant contribution to compost. That's my perceived value of it. Letting it make/drop seeds is something I try to avoid, but as far as pulling unwanted sprouts goes, it's one of the easiest I've encountered.
As our long ago member Biita used to say about the weed that most people, gardeners or not, want to get out their lawn....sometimes they are dinner and a drink.... http://www.gardenstew.com/threads/dinner-and-a-drink.15063/
Hey! I do believe you are correct, Purple! this question made me look a bit more at some of the weeds we do have and actually ID a few of them a bit better. Some I just know as "weeds". "I hate these weeds" or "grr! weed"
I only really dislike the ones that show up in gargantuan numbers, like chamberbitters, and the hard-to-pull, like oak sprouts. The rest I just think of as compost. I don't know what some of them are either. If there are just a few of something, I am usually curious enough to wait for blooms to what it is. But if it's hundreds of identical sprouts, I don't care what it is, I just know it has to go before I let more seeds fall. The key to getting control over any plant that is producing hundreds of sprouts is to prevent any of them from maturing enough to drop more seeds. If you can pull all of them one year before that happens, there should be noticeably fewer the following year. (Assuming the soil is not disturbed much. Disturbing the soil can expose seeds that have been buried for years.) Keeping a layer of organic matter on the surface can make a huge difference too. Mulch &/or anything that looks similar, like leaves, pine needles, compost, clippings from mower bag, when the mowing has been done before grass is making seeds... whatever your yard/household has to offer, or you want to buy. Starting a new garden spot by smothering vs. digging has always been so much more successful for me, in regard to not battling unwanted sprouts. :+)
Great posting Purple. I get itchy when I see bare soil. I have had good luck mulching with pine needles, coffee grounds, shredded leaves. This summer though I took compost from my home garden compost pile to my community garden plot. I now have baby perennial seedlings though out my vegies: rudbeckia, campanula, foxglove, hostas etc. I guess that means the pile never got hot enough to kill the seeds.
Thanks to purpleinopp for suggesting Erechtites. I believe what I have is Erechtites hieracifolius, or American Burnweed. Sure looks like it, yep, yep. It's now developing the distinctive flower buds. Thanks to all for your help. Nate
No doubt, Cayuga, a home compost pile is unlikely to get hot enough to kill seeds. That is why one would not want to knowingly put any significant quantity of seeds (that they would be fearful of sprouting) into a compost pile, and why "harvesting" the weeds to be composted before they have produced ripe seeds is what I mentioned above. TY for the follow-up, Nate!
