I'd keep the violets. I'd keep the goldenrod, and aster as long as they aren't overwhelming other plants - in that case I'd trim or move them. I probably wouldn't keep beggar's ticks because they can be a hassle when the seeds attach to clothes. The blackberry and pokeberry are both nice plants to have around for birds, but both can take over a garden so I would allow them only in certain areas. I think Indian Tobacco is sort of nondescript, but also doesn't really take much space so I'd let it grow. Same goes for the cinquefoil, although the cinquefoil has prettier flowers. I'd keep the path rush, especially if it is on the path. The spiderwort seems more likely to have come from a nearby garden than from the wild - at least in areas I'm familiar with it isn't very common in the wild but is fairly common in gardens. Still, I'd keep it.

I'd keep the aster cordifolius for sure; I find it not spreading at all (but the woodchucks or rabbits seem to like it). It's one of the prettier asters, in my opinion.

I would keep them all except (possibly) Beggar-ticks, which can get aggressive. Volunteers know where they want to live, which is not always the case for our plantings. Don't let anyone tell you Pokeweed should be erradicated, it's fine. Regards, Peter

Thanks for the feedback.

Ladyslppr: I do think the spiderwort is a garden escape, so not a true volunteer. I'll be working on getting rid of it (have to dig down).

Davidl: I love the heart-leaved asters too, although they do reseed prolifically in my yard and I've cleared them out of certain areas where they were engulfing smaller natives.

Peter: I actually had a pokeweed along the fence last year covering up a missing slat, but it hasn't come back. I do get a little nervous about its reseeding habit, but the birds love the berries and it's nice to have such a tall herbaceous plant in a garden with lots of small plants.

Beggar ticks aren't a big problem so far, but I'll probably pull them. Indian tobacco has little blue & white flowers in the late summer when not much else is happening, so I may keep it (although it reseeds quite a bit). I'm surprised no one said anything about the brambles -- I had been pulling this religiously. Should I let it grow? They seem to pop up all over the place.

I didn't mention my least favorite native volunteer -- poison ivy -- it serves an ecological purpose in the woods away from habitation, but just doesn't fit with my small native garden. My next door neighbor has it all over and every year it starts to come through, under and over the fence and I break my 'no chemicals' policy and get out the Brush-B-Gon.

Another native volunteer I didn't mention is daisy fleabane, Erigeron sp. I tend to pull these also, but I'm not sure why.

-- wd

(Now if I can only encourage some volunteer native birds to nest in my birdhouse so I stop unintentionally breeding English house sparrows.... but that's a post for another forum.)

I've never known Solidago caesia to be anything but well behaved.

I've had pokeweed seed in so aggressively in places that I couldn't grow anything else. I also understand that the seeds can remain viable in the soil for 50 years. I also understand that they are often carriers for plant viruses that don't affect the pokeweed but can trouble other species.

I've also had trouble controlling Tradescantia.

I've seen V. papilionacea in relatively undisturbed sites playing well with others, but in lawns and garden situations they can be hard to control. The showy flowers are sterile, by the way, but later in the season there's a crop of inconspicuous cleistogamous flowers whose seedpods explode, projecting seed as much as 8 feet away.

Aster cordifolius may seed around aggressively in dry shade, but in my experience it doesn't usually form monocultures.

My experience with path rush is limited to trying unsuccessfully to keep it from growing in walkways, but it's one American plant that's become a weed elsewhere in the world.

Weeds are the first colonizers of disturbed sites, and even native gardens are disturbed sites, so it isn't surprising that your first native volunteers are mostly weedy plants.

Erigeron annuus will outcompete the slow-growing but more desirable natives, so I think in controlling it your instincts are steering you right.

I garden professionally in Massachusetts.