Possibly field buttercup, Ranunculus repens, from your description, but a photo would certainly help.

I think that's it - I googled and found an image at MoBot that looks identical (linked below this message).

The thing is, I don't remember it flowering last year, and it has no buds on it of any kind right now, although the MoBot page says bloom time is April-May. Could there be a non-blooming version or perhaps it needs more sun to bloom?

Now kicking myself for spending all that $$ on english ivy starts when I could have just waited a year for this stuff to take over ; )

thanks -

tesla

here it is in my side yard on this gray Kansas afternoon...

Here is a link that might be useful: not a weed!

A little more looking and I think it's the same family but closer to this one:

Here is a link that might be useful: woodland anemone

English Ivy is quite a pest here, don't know about your part of the country. Ranunculus is poison to livestock, and very hard to get rid of. I have it coming up in my yard. Good luck with both, whichever one wins.

If the photo is what you have growing in your yard, that is NOT creeping buttercup (and despite what that link may indicate, it IS a weed and a nasty one, too!) The leaves in the photo are lobed almost to the point of being separated which is far more indicative of pachysandra than ranunculus but the color doesn't look very good. Maybe just the light quality and weather? Are the leaves the slightest bit fleshy and succulent? If so, more likely pachy than anything else.

gardengal - they're not the slightest bit succulent like pachy, that's why I'm stumped. They're rough and thin. The color does look bad - IRL it looks much darker w/more veining but my camera is handled by inexpert me and thus the photo quality.

sigh.

I guess no matter what I need to make plans to remove it, because it is spreading everywhere - even trying to compete w/my zoysia backyard - now THAT will be quite a turf war! :)

thanks again,

tesla