I really feel like I should know this one, but I can't match it to any previous weeds I've seen in the backyard. I know it's not the best photo because of being in the sun, I could try for better in the morning before the sun hits it if needed. It's a very nice looking full mound about 1' tall.

It does look familiar, but no name comes to mind. What was in that spot last year? That looks more like re-growth, vs. new seedling growth to me. Is it all one same plant?

Could it be a regrowth of a Hackberry tree?

It's along the same fence with the garlic mustard behind it way towards the back. It's dark and raining now so I'll check tomorrow. But without poking around the ground to look at the stems yesterday, it seemed like one nice even mound how a perennial that was there for several years would evenly fill out sending up more shoots very close.

I don't remember anything special being in that spot. There's a few common daylilies that come up, trumpet vine that I try to kill off as soon as I see a new stem pop up, and there's often some small stick of a tree that's coming up along there that can't be pulled out so I usually cut them off at the ground when cleaning up. Would a baby cut back hackberry come back up like a small bush?

It still looks like something familiar that I should recognize though.

Reminds me of Verbena/Vervain. Do you have Verbena hastata there?

That's what it reminds me of! I have grown verbenas in my annual containers before and it's very possible some seeds blew around, or birds "gifted" the seeds there. Maybe I'll just wait and see what it does and if it flowers. But I'll check it better later today if the drizzle lets up.

Edit: Checking it will have to wait, the drizzle that was supposed to stop instead decided to turn into a real downpour. At least this will make it easier for me to pull all the garlic mustard!

Some of the foliage made me wonder about hackberry too, but if it's all one thing, then there are basal leaves that look different, vs. the leaves that look like they are higher on stems. Yes, cutting a baby @ soil level could result in a "poof" of foliage that looks like a shrub, but I'm not leaning toward hackberry as an ID for this if it seems like all 1 plant. But not saying it's definitely not because I'm only familiar with the one species in our yard.

Hope you get some sunshine, Nancy! : )

I am not sure I can tell from the pic, but verbena hastata and similar verbenas are square stemmed with opposite leaf arrangement, hackberry is alternate. You'll be able to rule out at least one of them.

Here's a few more. The base is a group of all thin stems, typical of a nicely growing perennial.

The leaf stems don't look like Hacberry to me on second glance...

Maddening! It's something I've had before in OH I think, looks so familiar.

Shasta daisy? Reminds me of that quite a bit. Leaves may not be thick enough but that's the direction my brain keeps going.

I keep wanting it to be Agastache or Lunaria, but neither seem quite right.

Too hairy for a daisy. I can't tell about the leaves, but the petioles are definitely hairy. I don't know my agastache that well, but I can't think of any that are that hairy, either.

I guess it's going to stay until it flowers then to help ID it. That feeling that I should know what it is bugs me more than anything.

Campanula?

Do the leaves smell when you crush them?

Did anyone suggest Veronica?
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/pl...

Vernonicas are opposite leafed.

No minty scent at all, just a plain natural grassy scent to it when I crush it.

And yes, it's definitely alternate leaves. I couldn't get a decent picture of that right now because of the bright sun. Toothed alternate leaves.