Im new to gardening. Can anyone help me? What type of plant is this? Is this just a weed or an actually flower. It came out of no where and, I fell in love with the size of leaves it self.

I think that is a Paulownia tomentosa, princess tree. They have amazing hug leaves when young. It is an incredibly fast growing, and invasive, tree.

sallyg said:I think that is a Paulownia tomentosa, princess tree. They have amazing hug leaves when young. It is an incredibly fast growing, and invasive, tree.

Thank you Sally

Don't be happy. Having a Paulownia tomentosa can be a disaster. When I lived in Connecticut I had one and everything was just fine. Beautiful, fast growing, lovely scent to the blooms.

But here in the south, the tree is a monster. It will send underground roots and new trees will pop up...under a 10-foot patio new trees started popping up under my mobile home. As fast as I would hack them down and tear out the roots, more popped up. Also, handling the tree is a sticky situation...and I do mean sticky. Insects get stuck onto the leaves; handling the leaves...leaves a tacky feeling on hands and gloves.

I still think the tree is beautiful, but not in my yard ever again.

with greene! Not something I would be happy to have.

Empress Tree (Paulownia tomentosa)

greene said:Don't be happy. Having a Paulownia tomentosa can be a disaster. When I lived in Connecticut I had one and everything was just fine. Beautiful, fast growing, lovely scent to the blooms.

But here in the south, the tree is a monster. It will send underground roots and new trees will pop up...under a 10-foot patio new trees started popping up under my mobile home. As fast as I would hack them down and tear out the roots, more popped up. Also, handling the tree is a sticky situation...and I do mean sticky. Insects get stuck onto the leaves; handling the leaves...leaves a tacky feeling on hands and gloves.

I still think the tree is beautiful, but not in my yard ever again.

Wow, okay thank you for that.

I agree, it's the Princess Tree/Empress Tree (P. tomentosa) and although a beauty, it is considered an invasive in many areas, including North Carolina. More information about the tree in N.C. on these pages:

http://www.ncforestservice.gov...
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/pl...
http://nc-ipc.weebly.com/paulo... I'd consider removing it and any other seedlings you might find.