Is it a vine? It may be Solanum jasminoides, or potato vine. I lived for over 20 years in Northern CA and only one time did I see pokeweed, but don't know if poke grows in the Central Valley (I know the climate is definitely not the same there as in Sonoma!) But Potato Vine seemed to be pretty much a universally used fast, thick grower for problem areas. The individual blooms will look a bit like those of tomato plants, and its purple berries are small. Stems and foliage often take on a purple tinge depending on light exposure. Folks either love it because of its vigor and reliability or hate it because it's "overused."

I checked with Bayers 800 number and they said their product does not cover coneflower rosette mite. Andre Viette's nursery didn't have an answer either, but I did find one right here at this website. Here's what I learned . . . On Gardenweb there was a similar post in early July with lots of replies regarding this mite and AY. All there came up with no fix for the coneflower mite. Most everyone replying there said they were going to get rid of all their coneflowers! There was one response though that seemed to walk a middle line. Here it is quoted in the next paragraph: "But for the echinacea, I have had infected plants that i just remove the infected blooms as i saw them ... without going to extra step of "litter removal" later in the year.... and then later that same year or the next season they bloom out just fine. For me is on par with the work of other garden jobs... without being too much of a pain." I'd like to give her technique a try. What do I have to lose? I don't want to dig out all my coneflowers! The mites get into SOME of the buds, but apparently not all. Cutting off what looks like an affected flower in the spring isn't too much work. You'd get the mites then and could dispose of them so they don't hatch out to return to your garden the next year. The next step would be to get rid of the foliage in the fall so eggs can't winter over. And if you can, pull away all the mulch and you'd be done. Maybe this will work for you. I'd like to know what they're going to replace their coneflowers with??? In Heaven there will be NO gardening problems!

They may well be treated for insects, but otherwise still viable. Just BTW my mother, who grew into an avid gardener, said when she and dad married and moved into there first house, she so badly wanted a veggie garden. Having no knowledge of such, she bought a packet of dried peas and soaked them overnight before planting them. LOL. Post WW2 depression days it was probably pretty expensive compost. I love it that we never stop learning. And nothing puts us off trying.

Interesting that Ken should say pokeweed - that's the first thing that came to my mind, too, so it probably is a pokeweed. The other plant looks to be either a cudweed or a rabbit's tobacco, closely related plants. I'd keep it, since this is a host plant for American ladies. The other, of course, is a snapdragon. Sherry