Are these flowers or weeds?

I am trying to weed and etc on my yard for the first time since moving here last year. Problem is I mostly cannot tell a good plant from a weed! Can you help?

Plant #1


Plant #2


Plant #3


Plant #4


Plant #5


Plant #6


Plant #7

Plant 1: Edit: This DOES look like an Astilbe. They love wet shady spots.

Plant 2 and 3: No idea what they are. If you don't like them, yank them out.

Plant 4: The varigated viney plant is a periwinkle. It will spread widely and bloom in light blue/lavendar flowers in the spring. The other I'm not familiar with.

Plant 5: Weed.

Plant 6: Had one of these in my garden and left it alone to see if it bloomed. It did not and I yank it out every year and it keeps coming back. I looked it up once and I think it's in the tobacco family.

Plant 7: Looks like something that a friend called a "Sunny Sprinkle". I've heard them called Missouri Primrose. Either way, they have very bright yellow flowers in mid summer and they are pretty. I may be wong about it.

I usually wait one full season before I get rid of things I don't know about. By definition, a weed is a plant that grows someplace where you don't want it to grow. I have transplanted nice plants to different locations if I don't like them where they cropped up.

Looks like you have your hands full!

Number 1 looks like an Astilbe to me and is not a weed. It does best when it is kept wet.

Number 2 - don't know - sorry.

Number 3 - lovely little flowers. Are they forget-me-knots. They happily spread themselves around but are so lovely to look at.

Number 4 - the broad leaved one looks like a young tree. The tiny one just behind with variegated leaves could be a euonymous.

Number 5 - is a dock plant - that's a week and can be taken up. Best gotten young otherwise it really takes some strength to get the long tap root out.

Number 6 - don't know sorry.

Number 7 - looks like Rosebay Willowherb that is a weed and can be happily pulled out.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Looks like you have your hands full!

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You aren't kidding!

Thanks both of you! The first plant that needs to be "kept wet" it is in the perfect place! I am tilling the area around it up now - and while some of the yard is bone dry - this area is wet wet wet!

It seems like everyone else has given you some good ideas there!

My Mum and I look at it this way, 'a weed is a plant growing in the wrong place' so if you don't like it where it is or don't want it there, then pull it out. All 'weeds' are plant too, they just have a place that they shoule live and end up growing elsewhere because they self seed of their rhizomes (sp?) take over!

I say it's up to you!

It is right about the forget-me- nots - they are very pretty in late spring but htey do seed everywhere. I pull some out and leave a few as otherwise they come up everywhere next year.

I have the same trouble.


These look like flowers to me, the rest weeds.

Originally Posted by Ilovecats

I have the same trouble.

These look like flowers to me, the rest weeds.

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That's exactly what I was going to say. In other words, if you like it, let it stay. If you don't, yank it.

Originally Posted by Sar

My Mum and I look at it this way, 'a weed is a plant growing in the wrong place' so if you don't like it where it is or don't want it there, then pull it out. All 'weeds' are plant too, they just have a place that they shoule live and end up growing elsewhere because they self seed of their rhizomes (sp?) take over!

I say it's up to you!

Click to expand...

I agree!! I use to have a pot of flowers hanging on the edge of my balcony but a fern somehow started growing. The thing is that after a while the fern (weed) looked so much better than the flowers so I sort of let it grow and soon it took over the entire pot. And then instead of a pot of flowers there is a pot of nice lush fern.

I agree with taking a "see what it grows into" approach. I have some weeds that grow in our pasture, big old ugly things. They do have pinkish flowers part of the year that look kind of like a morning glory. But they also have big picky pods. The horses will not eat them!

Down the road a few miles, at a very well manicured home, the same exact plant is at the end of their driveway, where the pipe runs under the drive for the ditch water. Makes me smile every time I see my hated weeds looking so good!

My husband took a peek and said Plant 2 is in the "cheese" family. They appeared in our formal garden one year and took it over. We ripped them to shreds the following year. I vote to yank that one.

Thanks Momofmany's husband! I will definately yank those!

For some reason I just feel "bad" about yanking some of them if I am not sure - when I was out earlier I stepped on one of my flowers - I apologized to it.

I think I am going to let the purple flowers grow again this year - I someone also remember these tall yellow flowers growing in the same area. I am afraid when we moved here there was so much going on with my job moving and us moving do a different state- that I didn't pay that close attention to what sprung up.

I do beleive I will leave a few of the Astilbe where they are, but I will relocate a few - there are a few too many in the current area for my "vision" of the area.

Goodness gracious - it is going to take me all year to get only about 1/2 my yard in shape... there is something to say for the tiny yard I used to have.

They look like nice apart from #5 - I've seen that growing around here too!

My 2 cents:

1. is astible can take sandy soil with regular watering (experience on that)
2. unsure
3. forget me nots-a really nice display
4. spring epheremal called May Apple-a true spring wildflower
5. Can't think of name of top of my head but I have it its a horrible invasive perennial with a big fleshy root. Dig deep
6. unsure
7. Kind of look like saponaria-another invasive perennial-flowers preety but tought to get rid of!!

I don't know which are weeds and which aren't, but you sure have some lovely property! What I wouldn't give for a back yard filled with trees or looking onto a forest... *sigh*