This plant sprouted up in one of my beds and is now almost 2' tall.
My mind seems to think it is a weed....Just a bunch of narrow leaves on stalks.

I wan to yank it--but want to make sure it is not some kind of a perennial plant.

Thanks, Gita

Goldenrod? Just a guess.

That's a good guess.

That would be my guess also. Whether or not it is a weed is subjective. I like it and encourage in to grow but many consider it a weed. It's has beautiful flowers and is very beneficial to wildlife.

So I guess it's up to you, Gita. Butterflies like it.

It doesn't look like the goldenrod that grows on my place. But then, there are different types of goldenrod.

There are over 100 species and roughly 1/3 grow in the Maryland area.

and there may have been some special goldenrod floating around our swap group. Better not rip it up too fast.

Thanks all! You are correct! It is a Goldenrod Solidago canandensis.
I found the tag--broken abd half buried.
I bought it last fall, when I was getting a pile if new perennials.
I even have it in 2 different places. One in my AC bed (the pics I posted)
The other sits under my Mockorange bush. in my YUK bed.
I may dig up the one in the AC bed and move it to....somewhere else?

I am sure I planted it for the flowers and the butterflies and bees to feast on.

Di NOT expect it to be so lanky Gita

A weed is just a plant in the wrong place

gitagal said:

I am sure I planted it for the flowers and the butterflies and bees to feast on.

Di NOT expect it to be so lanky Gita

If it gets too tall, you can always cut if off to the ground. It will grow back just fine, but be somewhat shorter. The more times you cut it back, the shorter and bushier it will be.

That being said, many species of goldenrod make excellent garden plants but Canada Goldenrod isn't one of them (in my opinion of course). It can be an aggressive spreader, especially if you intend to confine it to a small space.

This USDA page may be of interest:

http://plants.usda.gov/plantgu...

They suggest planting it in a pot sunk in the ground to control spread by rhizomes. My late grandfather used to do that with mints.

Definitely a weed around here though, but it is pretty and gets an undeserved bad reputation with some allergy sufferers when they are actually being affected by ragweed not goldenrod. I even saw a well-known TV program show a picture of goldenrod in a piece about allergies, and labeled it ragweed!

Could I cut it back by half to make it more compact--
but still bloom in late summer? Seems the kind of plant that i could do this to....

Thanks, gita