I think it went into winter a little on the dry side. The bed is sheltered by the deck above and I don't mulch it because the chickens will spread the mulch everywhere along the walkway when they find it. I'm pretty sure it's dead. My clematis on the other side of the house are green all the way to the top of the service pole (well, the Bill MacKenzie goes to the top), and the Jackmanii is almost done blooming. Last year, it had live vines ten feet up the trellis in the spring. When I cut off the knuckle, I sheared it level with the ground, watered well several times since, and I haven't noticed any new growth in close to two months. I assume I just look for the smooth oval leaves on a small "weed"? Will I have volunteer seedlings the following spring or summer after seed matures, or do they germinate in the same season? I saw a few posts about people finding volunteer seedlings in August... I already have a few in my cart on ebay :/ I guess I'll take a look tonight and see if I can find any in the weedy areas I didn't get to last weekend.

I'd suggest you wait to weed until the little plants get big enough to ID. Once they get their first true leaves (the second set), the leaves should look like miniatures of the parent leaves.

The seedling I mentioned had hairy seedling leaves. That's not borage is it? How big are the seedling leaves when the borage cotyledons emerge? I'll try and get a picture of the seedling, once it stops raining of course! Saintin

Here's an update a few weeks later.