Yes!!! I have positively identified it as Chimaphila umbellata, Umbellate Wintergreen thanks to you, necturus. Much appreciated. seedmoney

mayland, a lot of people (including myself, till i really got into it) don't realize that gardening is a year-round endeavor, and you can keep planted with seasonal veggies with minimal effort on your part. grocery stores have spoiled me rotten to a degree (year-round everything), but i find it a fun challenge to adapt to a seasonal menu at home - my DW and I love to cook, although admittedly, i do 75% or more of all the cooking in the house. regarding my stackstone beds...i try to keep them planted year-round with (at minimum) salad greens, during warm months (late spring/summer/fall/early winter) they keep us outfitted with tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, herbs, peppers, etc. the beds are only ~12 ft each (~3.5' x 3.5') personally, i don't like needing to buy from the store, and it always taste better fresh-picked. typical exchange at home for us: "hey honey, you want salad for dinner tonight?" "sure!" "ok, i'm headed outside to cut some!" "grab a tomato and cucumber while you're at it!" i tell ya, it is SUCH an immense pleasure to go into the fridge, realize, "dang, i don't have any X or Y!" and not have to nix your dinner plans entirely or drive to the store in order to salvage them. it's also nice to get those occasional perks, like, for example, the brown turkey figs on the side yard, which go so well with balsamic vinegar and either greek yogurt or goat cheese (btw - fig is another one you could potentially grow in that spot...) we're always improving and improvising to find new ways to grow, and i think this year; i think we're going to look into adding something like this into the mix this winter to continue growing things which are cold-intolerant but don't require pollination. ultimately, the options are limitless. we picked up our fig in feb/march and planted - it had one fig on it from the store (it ripened a few weeks back), and it literally leaped already, doubled in size, and has at least 40 figs on it already :) at this point, i've got the edible landscape bug, whereas previously, i was all about xeriscaping. i can't help myself. the hard part is knowing all your options, there's just too much information out there and not enough time!!!

Thank you for your great suggestions! I had a busy week and couldn't get back on. Thanks for letting me know that you think the plastic idea is not good for this project. I'm actually very familiar with what's growing there and am wondering if maybe I don't have a woodland...just a thicket area with some trees? I think this was just the "edge" of a farm field at one time that a farmer allowed to just "fill in" as it wanted. Some of the trees are cottonwood and buckthorn, there may be an elm. I'm actually pretty knowledgeable about trees and some of them just plain have me "stumped". As for the native plants...it is mostly goldenrod that grows in the sunnier areas and some type of tall grass that covers the entire field behind my little wooded strip. There's some yarrow in there, which I've already made use of on my property and which grows in my lawn. Other than that, there really aren't any wild flowers. I've watched this area grow every year because I'm very keen on preserving things if they are nice. But as for the goldenrod, my husband and I both have allergies and it will be a blessing to get it out, even though I do think goldenrod can be beautiful. Your suggestions are good...I think I'll use round up on a mop head or glove so that I can be more selective and perhaps just do a portion at a time. Thank you so much! Mary

Great, invasive. Fits right in with the Japanese honeysuckle and knotweed and bindweed. Only thing I haven't found yet is garlic mustard, but no doubt it is there somewhere. And I'm the one who wouldn't let the builder bulldoze that area - I wanted my "woods"!!!