very poor siting ... it should have been planted.. closer to the house ... TO HIDE the utilities.. on the sight line.. not IN THE MIDDLE OF THE UTILITIES ... if you decide on removal ... DO NOT DIG THERE ... cut it to the ground.. and treat the stump with a stump killer ... look around the area.. and i am sure.. you will find peeps who did it the right way ... shovel plus electric... is not a good equation ... be safe ... just guessing .... the thin pole is telephone.. i think the buried boxes are cable.. and the big box is electric... at least in my MI ... oh there is a second tower right in the bush.. that might be cable also ... a service like miss dig could ID them all for you ... ken

Thanks for the suggestion! I've looked at quite a few pictures of 'erica', it is by far the closest match I've seen yet. The only differences are the flowers on mine were flat (not bell shaped) and the leaves/foliage were long and fine. Seems a strange thing to say but the whole plant looked kind of 'fluffy' from a distance with the flowers growing towards the middle/base with the long fine green foliage protruding above..???

Well the plant beneath appears to be mondo grass, but as for the plant in question, as it might be a cure for cancer, I wish I knew. On the basis of the picture provided I doubt if anyone in this forum (they are mostly Americans -growers of northern hemisphere, non-tropical, plants) could be 100% on this one! The top of the plant has been removed, would help a bit if it was there and a flower would also assist.

I missed that you had come back with a reply, Coach! It sounds like you have some species of Asclepias! One of the common names is butterfly weed, and people pay money for the stuff you're trying to get rid of! Like dandelions, the seeds "float" in the air, and my guess is that some neighbor pretty close has one/some they're cultivating to attract butterflies! The most common species is A. incarnata--but I really have no way to know if that's the species that's showing up in your yard or not. Some info at the link below if you're interested in more! In terms of getting rid of it, I recommend Weed-B-Gon. You can use that in the grass--it kills only broad leaf plants, and you can use it where there is no grass too. From my experience it works better than Roundup, and it's what I use anywhere I need an herbicide these days--works quite well at getting rid of cottonwood and aspen suckers in the grass! As far as I know all, or at least most, milkweeds have taproots, so the sooner you get rid of them the easier it will be. If you decide to try to pull them, you'll need to get all of the root out or they'll come back from anything you leave behind! If you have a place where you want to grow some to attract butterflies (it's also a host plant for the caterpillars), you can just deadhead the flowers before any seeds form to help keep them from "filling up your yard!" Can't help with "the neighbor" if I'm right that that's where the seeds are coming from! Skybird P.S. The "plant" you were getting into as a kid was most likely dandelions! Here is a link that might be useful: Asclepias incarnata