Viewing comments posted by lauribob

This is considered a noxious weed in my county and grows all over the place. Some of the 6-foot-plus plants can take on interesting shapes with distorted forms. My father-in-law used to wad up handfuls of the leaves; burn them, and let them smolder in a coffee can he called a smudge pot to keep the mosquitoes at bay. My sister likes to dig a few up and take them home every year. I say take all you want, but I don't hate them as some folks do.

Very easy from seed and I love that anise scent when I weed around these!

I love these things. They grow wild in the ditches up on the pass, but I got this one at a nursery. The male plant flowers are a little bit showier, but the female plants get nice seed clusters.

I like this guy, but it gets pretty beaten up by the wind by late summer. The blossoms are strange things, poking themselves up before the foliage emerges. I love the lush leaves in my shady garden before they start looking ratty.

One of my favorites. These self-seed freely in my Zone 5 garden on the east side of the house. They are filling in the (well-watered) bed nicely after several years. I also have Britt-Marie Crawford just on the other side of the steps from these. It has not gotten as big or seeded itself like Othello has. These can be prone to slug damage if you live where the slime trails rule.