Anyone else planting stuff like this in your yard?

Hi Nick. Welcome to the Forums here, at NGA !
I've grown tobacco before. The seeds are very tiny & get sown on the surface. Use very clean hands & sow thinly, on top of microwaved seed start mix ( allow to cool off first,) before sowing & keep humid. & warm, but shaded until it gets a little bigger & gradually expose to more direct sun.
At this time of year, it may need to be done in the shade. A neighbor I knew, used to grow it in N. Carolina too, by the hundreds of acres.... I had asked, what kind I had & the elderly gentleman guessed & sure enough, he named what I had grown from seeds, correctly. Maybe #86 ?
The flower stalk, is supposed to be removed ( unless you want to save seeds.) As nicotine is rather toxic, & can be absorbed through your skin, take precaution. I was told by one woman that did that 'flower top removal" as summer time work, & she'd actually become poisoned from working in a field "topping them" & she had started to take on a greenish appearance, shortly after starting the job !

While Marshmallow, grew wild, at the edge of the yard, where it was the edge of the marsh ( as the name implies) but not close to the ( salty/brackish) Creek, as the soil tended to stay moist, almost like that consistency of damp mud.
Not sure about the others, though

Hi - I see you're in Tobacco Country USA (Virginia)

That's where my pipe tobacco comes from:

Prince Albert Pipe Tobacco
John Middleton Co.
Richmond, VA 23261 USA

Actually I'm well experienced in growing tobacco - grew a big crop in SE Portland, Oregon one year and cured about 100 lbs. of it - lasted me about a year. I grew both Nicotiana tabacum and a burly type so I had a good blend.

A little history, I'm sure you probably know: If it wasn't for tobacco grown in the Colonies, there probably wouldn't have been a United States of America

Now, in 2019 it's all about banning it in as many states as "they" can, and allowing and encouraging the cultivation of Cannabis … who's behind that anyway? Well, skip that - it's politics and let's not get into that …

Yes, I see some Marshmallow growing just down the street but somehow I fail to collect seeds from it every year. It's growing in a fairly wet or damp area, especially after it rains. The Richter seed packet says that it's Althaea officinalis …

... and Wikipedia says " Althaea officinalis, or marsh-mallow, is a perennial species indigenous to Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa, which is used in herbalism and as an ornamental plant.
A confection made from the root since ancient Egyptian
times evolved into today's marshmallow
treat, but most modern marshmallow treats no longer contain any marsh-mallow root."

So I got the right seeds - thank you Richter's!

As for the Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) - got the right species there too!

Wikipedia says:
" Chamaenerion angustifolium, known in North America as fireweed, in some parts of Canada as great willowherb, and in Britain as rosebay willowherb, is a
perennial herbaceous plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae. It is also known by the synonyms Chamerion angustifolium and Epilobium angustifolium. It is native throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere including large parts of the boreal forests."
see Uses > " Traditionally the young shoots are collected in the spring by Native American people and mixed with other greens … "

I used to have a large plant growing here for many years, but sadly in died out. Now I plan to get some re-established. The native bumblebees just love it, its bright flowers make it a very attractive "ornamental" and it's a native plant in this area, and just about everywhere else it looks like (from what wiki says). Here in Oregon you can see acres of it growing after a wildfire has swept through an area, which is why they call it Fireweed. I'm sure it's in Virginia too, probably in rural hilly or mountainous areas.

Thanks so much for commenting on this thread!

Best regards

> Nick