Hello and thank you for your consideration of this message. I live in Chicago in a small bungalow and I started gardening about 3 years ago.

Please help me identify these plant/s pictured below, which are growing in various spots in my backyard. Are these weeds, if so how should I eliminate them?



Thanks to all for the replies, your information is very helpful!!

They look so familiar to me! But I can't place them at the moment

Reminds me of Gaillardia but I'm unsure.

Or Sheep Sorrel?

I thought maybe Rudbeckia triloba. I'll post a photo of our young ones tomorrow. Here's an older one.

maybe a coreopsis ? or a coneflower, black eyed susan
at any rate, I'd let it go for now and wait for it to bloom, don't pull them yet, because it is most certainly something nice.

I took this photo today and it look to be a good match for yours. Rudbeckia triloba is what I have. The bloom will tell for sure. They do seed about a bit here but I like them very much.

Kind of reminded me of Sorrel (Rumex) too. Check out some of these photos of Rumex acetosella for comparison:
http://www.illinoiswildflowers...
http://plants.chaletnursery.co...

I agree with HamiltonSquare, that they defintely resemble the first year leaves of Rudbeckia triloba. They are coarse , rough and hairy, when they first emerge, like most of their R. fulgida and R. hirta relatives. R. triloba is a biennial, blooming later in it's second year. At least that's how it behaves in my Zone 4 to 5 garden. I also have too many seedlings and will have to take a few of them out.

The young Sorrel leaf also has three main lobes, but is smooth to the touch, and if you bite into it, it has that definite lemon sour tang.