NJ flowers or weeds

4 years ago

I planted a new flower bed late last year so I have not seen any of the plants during their initial emergence in spring. These two look like weeds to me - especially the tall stalky thing (top) - but there sure are a lot of them! The grouping pic (bottom) may be flowers because I did plant some in that area - but it sure seems like a lot of propagation in such a short time. Any advice is greatly appreciated before I pull them out :-)

Featured Answer

katob Z6ish, NE Pa

4 years ago

The first one is a weed, some kind of prickly lettuce, the second is beebalm (monarda) a nice flower which you probably did plant, but does spread a bit.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

dvd94
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks! Just what I suspected :-) Bee balm? Yes, I did buy some -- this is wonderful news!! Ok - out with the prickly lettuce :-) thanks, again.
Related Discussions
Help Identify this grass-like weed-NJ
Q
Comments (4)
Hi, your first photo, the one with a closeup of the seedhead, is kind of blurry. Seeing the seedhead clearly could help a lot in identifying your weed.
...See More
wanted: native nj flowers & weeds. please, review my list.
Q
Comments (3)
I have a mock orange, mallow, hollyhock plants or seeds but they are getting rust by this time of year - you could have seeds of that and malva too. I haven't seen sheep sorrel yet but I had it last year, might still. Asters are one of my biggest weeds but I don't know which one it is.
...See More
2 Weed Issues (Yellow Flowered Weed and Grass Like Weed)
Q
Comments (4)
Maybe Senecio vulgaris, common groundsel??? If so, pretty early for bloom although it is a spring bloomer. Can be tough to control as it has developed resistance to many products. Contact your local extension service for the right treatment. hortster Here is a link that might be useful: common groundsel
...See More
Weed identification central NJ
Q
Comments (7)
The fourth picture above is Yellow Wood Sorrel, "Oxalis stricta" a very common "weed" in any cultivated soil. Quite easily pulled by hand but also easily reseeded by birds. The first one could be a thistle and the third could well be spurge, a very prolific seed producer. Hand pulling, that gets all of the root, is the single best means of control. There is more and more evidence appearing that indicates any of the "weed" poisons are very detrimental to wee thingys such as toads and frogs and other of what is known as the lower forms of life.
...See More
Linda G (zone 6a)
4 years ago
The first one is a dandelion
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years ago
bee balm should be very fragrant.. go pet it ... mine used to smell like earl grey tea ... im not sure if they all do though ...

there are some seedlings in it.. you might want to make sure those arent weeds ... get them out now ... see if a crushed one smells like the monarda ...

i seem to recall they spread underground.. not by seed.. in my MI anyway ...

ken
dvd94 thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
harold100
4 years ago
You must dig down deeply around that dandelion to get the entire root out. Any sprig left will just let it rejuvenate again.
dvd94 thanked harold100
dvd94
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks, Harold! Although I'm going along with katob Z6 - they are not dandelions; I have lots of them but these are much different and are actually quite easy to take out - root and all. But I do agree with you, harold100 - you really do have get those dandelion roots (with one of those screw-driver type tools with a v :-) - but I also have an open lot next door with a field of dandelions - there is no avoiding them in my yard once they puff out. :-) What I hate even more than dandelions (their yellow flowers are quite nice) is wild onion - talk about something that multiplies the more you remove - even if you get the nasty onions themselves. Every year they seem to get more prolific in my garden. And they get smarter! They seem to know they won't get disturbed if they grow under and around a perennial - pretty clever little guys. Thanks all!!
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Yes, the first one is a Lactuca as identified by katob. It isn't a dandelion. Check out the elongating bloom stem. Dandelions do not have that feature.
dvd94
Original Author
3 years ago
I'm kind of hoping someone on this thread still has their notifications on - otherwise I'll start a new post. But you all knew your weeds - so I'm hoping you won't mind one more. I initially thought this was a mosquito plant -- it looked very similar to one that I planted about 5+ years ago that did not come back last year, so I was surprised to see this emergence - and several others - scattered around my flower beds. However, doing a search to confirm it was a mosquito plant (citronella) all mentioned that it has a nice smell when you crush the leaves. These plants/weeds have no such smell - and so far have no flowers - leading me to presume this is a weed. But it does have a nice tidy habit and is quite pretty - so I'm hoping someone tells me it will produce flowers - I'm ok with pretty weeds, as long as it produces flowers for the bees. :-) Thank you!