The picture that says "are they phlox or something else?" looks a lot like Physostegia / Obedient plant to me. whoever buys my place will probably scalp the entire 26 garden beds i have nurtured for the past 12 years and put in hardscape or a pool. breaks my heart, but nothing i can do about it Roxanna, there are things you can do before you leave your gardens - you can open your gardens to gardening friends or neighbors for give-aways, donate plants to a local or charity plant sale, sell or give away on Craigslist or Freecycle. People will even come and dig stuff up for you. Better than those lovely plants being scalped!

Keep in mind that "weeds" are plants you do not want growing where you do not want them. So one persons "weed" may be anothers desireable plant. One example is "Goutweed", "Bishops Weed", "Snow in the Mountain", "Aegopodium podagraria" that some consider an invasive "weed" while others consider it an attractive ground cover. Some plants many consider "weeds", Dandelions, Plantain, etc., are grown by others as food crops. Sometimes asking 10 people whether this plant is a "weed" will often get you 15 different answers. If you don't want that plant growing where it is growing it is a "weed" and you can get rid of it. Is a self seeded Forget Me Not growing in a crack in the sidewalk a "weed" or not?

Hi, Kathy, that's a tough one, especially without photographs. Unfortunately, this is where experience comes into play, and even seasoned gardeners in their zest to weed out intruders will sometimes make a mistake. May I suggest looking elsewhere in your yard... so you see similar plants? Or in your neighborhood? Do you have a neighbor you can ask.... if these are weeds in your new garden beds, chances are good these have grown in their beds as well and they will know what to look for. Don't let the weeds dampen your enthusiasm!

I tried to comment earlier but I didn't see it go through, so apologies if this winds up a duplicate. If it is Sage, it is not a variety I'm familiar with. The leaves are a little waxy and have zero fragrance. The plant has more of a tendency to spread out along the ground and creep: it first sends shoots straight up, but they lie down as soon as they reach a certain size (not even a very big size) , then lie flat and continue to grow along the ground. It seems to have a taproot. I took a photo of it next to my sage bush for comparison, it usually grows more flat like pictured. It could be Sage, I just wouldn't be familiar with what variety. Right now it's growing several feet out onto my sidewalk in mat form.