Ctlady,
I'm not sure about your daylily problem, but, the wildflower is "Velvet Leaf," or abutilon theophrasti. It's a wildflower, and a quick google search didn't come up with any warnings about toxicity. Some people say it's lovely, some people say it's terribly invasive. In the eye of the beholder!

Emily

mekee -- Thank you so much! That is indeed exactly what it is -- I've googled it now as well, and I wonder (since there is a veritable row of them, and I have never seen them before) if, as one other person noted, the seeds may have come in bird seed. It is located where runoff would carry loose seed dropped from a winter feeder, and while we used only black oiled sunflower seed, I do wonder if that's the source. It would explain their sudden and unexpected appearance (we never had the feeder near this site until this past winter). It is an interesting plant ... but I think I will scrupulously remove the seed pods, lest the thing take over the new bed NEXT year.

I just knew someone on GW would have the answer -- thanks again!

rabbit is your daylily culprit. The diagonal cut is a tell-tale sign.

giboosi_alttara,

My first thought, with the diagonal cuts, was rabbits ... but the height threw me. These lily plants are exceptionally large and the flower stems exceptionally tall -- literally to my shoulder in some cases, and certainly at least 3.5-4 feet in height. Is it possible that rabbits -- which we've never seen, actually, despite having a meadow adjoining the property (though we also have plenty of hawks and coyotes so that might explain the noticeable absence of rabbits?) -- could pull down a stem and snip it off? (Otherwise, they'd need to do more than stand on their hind legs .. they'd need a stepladder!) And I wonder the same thing about rabbits -- why bite these off and then just leave them on the ground? Not a blossom or bud is missing/munched...?

I had concluded deer in part because of the height at which these are being "nipped" off ... but deer would eat the flowers, wouldn't they? One morning there were no less than five such 4-6" stems on the ground around one lily clump, looking for all the world as if some crazed gardener and gone through and "deadheaded" them, then strewn them around the base of the plant! Each with buds, faded blooms, and in several cases, partially opened NEW blooms. Why would anything -- including rabbits -- be biting these off if they weren't planning to eat them? (And if they didn't like the taste, wouldn't you think they'd figure that out after the first few?...this has happened for days on end. I have an continuous supply of truncated lily stems in a vase by the sink! (Needless to say, I'd RATHER have the stems still on the plants! ;)

I would try more of my homemade habanero pepper spray (I put peppers and some water into a blender, then strain through cheesecloth or coffee filter and fill a hand spray bottle -- worked like a charm early in the season on foliage to keep deer away) but I'm worried about discouraging beneficial butterflies and bees now that things are in bloom...?

Oh, I wouldn't worry at all about the pollinators. Just spray it in the evening. Tomorrow's flowers will open up and the pollinators won't even notice.

It's the mammals that sense the capsaicin of the hot pepper spray!

I have velvet leaf come up almost every year for me. I yank it because those seed pods look very alarming. I have read that the seeds can persist in the soil for years and wonder if this is more the reason you are seeing them now than birdseed. Mine appear as I extend my garden beds and I think it is from seed that is there waiting to be brought to the surface and cultivated. I have not tested them to see if indeed they would be invasive if left on their own (if I left them to go to seed). Looking at those brown seed pods though I would be interested to hear of your experience next year :)

BTW I actually like them and would love it and would let them grow if they popped up in the wild areas of my yard.

jackied164 -- I noticed today that in addition to my "row" of big ones, lined up along the edge of the mulched bed, I now have a LOT of little ones cropping up all down the slope of the wooded area behind the house. Literally overnight! I'm snipping the pods off the ones I can reach but I'm guessing there will be plenty more next year. You may be right about disturbing the soil ... this is an area that had clearly never been used for gardens before and we dug out not only planting beds but a path. But it is curious. I KNOW they weren't here last year ... I'm also now wondering if they could have arrived as freeloaders in the locally produced "organic" mulch we put down in this area in May. I think I'll let them have the hillside (rather have them than poison ivy, though I imagine it's not an "either/or" proposition!) and see how invasive they become. They are certainly interesting looking plants -- I don't mind having them in the woods ... just not in the new beds!

I don't know about your daylilies, but I'm glad I looked at this thread because I was coincidentally wanting an ID on the same wildflower that you have posted here! A bunch of these Velvet leaf/Abutilon theophrasti showed up in a new garden bed that I just dug this spring. I pulled all but one of them so that I could get an ID.

I checked the USDA plants database and found out that this plant is not native to the US and that it's considered a noxious weed in some central/western states. Since it is a non-native and seems to have invasive tendencies I will pull it out when I see it. I am already dealing with many other horrible invasives in the yard, like Oriental bittersweet and Buckthorn.

Here's the pic I took before it bloomed - just now checked the blooms and seed pods and they are exactly like your picture.

{{gwi:1087511}}

I have a velvet leaf grow in my garden too. I kept watching it to see what it might do but not much happens. The flowers seem less significant than the interesting twirley pod that forms and the plant itself is rather large.

I find a lot of viney things growing too that are sort of cucumberish. I let those go for awhile and not much happens there either.