Volunteer Plant in Raised Garden Bed - Ask Extension
Hi,
This plant popped up in a raised garden bed but is not from the seeds we planted.
Could you please help us identify it?
Thank you!
Knowledgebase
Volunteer Plant in Raised Garden Bed #867498
Asked May 07, 2024, 9:10 PM EDT
Hi,
This plant popped up in a raised garden bed but is not from the seeds we planted.
Could you please help us identify it?
Thank you!
Montgomery County Maryland
Expert Response
Good afternoon.
Thanks for the photos of the plant in question. Did you have cut flowers or mixed flowers in this bed last year? It's hard to ID 100% without a flower in bloom, but it looks to me like either some type of aster or possibly scabiosa... the plant looks like it will be producing a flower soon. Please consider submitting a new photo at that point to confirm ID. If you wish to remove the plant, hand pulling should work well on this specimen. It is possible that the seed was mixed in seeds you planted in a previous year or that they blew in or were carried by an animal guest. Hope this helps. Thanks for reaching out.
Thanks for the photos of the plant in question. Did you have cut flowers or mixed flowers in this bed last year? It's hard to ID 100% without a flower in bloom, but it looks to me like either some type of aster or possibly scabiosa... the plant looks like it will be producing a flower soon. Please consider submitting a new photo at that point to confirm ID. If you wish to remove the plant, hand pulling should work well on this specimen. It is possible that the seed was mixed in seeds you planted in a previous year or that they blew in or were carried by an animal guest. Hope this helps. Thanks for reaching out.
Thank you!
A friend did give me some mixed flower seeds which did not do much last summer, so I assumed they were too old. Maybe they just needed some cold weather to get them going. Now I'm awaiting the first blooms to confirm what they are.
Best,
Kris
