There is a monsterous pokeweed that grows by our dininroom window, that last year i never got around to pulling out. In the winter a beautiful mockingbird came to my window everyday to eat the berries still on it, so this year i let it grow so he'll come back. I did trim it a bit, as this thing grows like you wouldnt believe.. but i loved that bird!

some people call Queen Ann's Lace a weed - I love it and encourage it to grow - wild violets get pretty much free reign in the woods. I do pull then from the main gardens. Poke weed is allowed to grow back in the woods because the birds love it. Our gardens are primarily for the wildlife so what God provides them is OK with me in the fringe areas of the yard ......

Lynne

Campanula rapunculoides (the evil twin of Adenophora) for the simple fact that I can't get rid of it. Have tried for years to dig it up- naturally no luck with that.

It is quite pretty, so I let it go ahead and bloom to add color (I mean, if its not going anywhere why not let it add a few weeks of beauty and not just a whacked back clump o' foliage). I always make sure to cut it back AS SOON as I see it starting to set seed. Don't want an even bigger problem than I have now, lol.

I find some weed flowers to be very pretty. The only one I can name
in my garden is Queen Anne's Lace. There is another one that has clover
like leaves with pink little flowers, very pretty and not invasive. Last
year I pulled up this tall weed with small lavender aster type flowers. The
little bee's liked it. Don't see it this year, wish I hadn't pulled it up.

Feverfew,i pull out a lot,yet let some stay.Depends on what it is growing around/with.Once you have it,you never get rid of it,just like my pink evening primrose.I pull sooooooooo much of that out every year,yet i do like to keep some of it as it's always in bloom here.
Kathi

daylillies. I think anything that gets larger every year is a weed! I know that's a bit extreme but I have daylillies growing out of a crack in my sidewalk. that's cement people. Anything that grows in cement is a weed.

but I like daylilies so I keep them.

I let goldenrod stay on the outskirts of our property. It is just beautiful in autumn. If Queen Anne's Lace wanted to grow there it would be welcome, as well. Seems like it prefers the roadside around this area..

I'm allowing some wild roses and a wild raspberry to grow this year. Not sure for how long.

I have a border of wild strawberries around the edge of my island bed altho they grow more lush leaves in the bed than they do in the wild with better soil and fertilizing. I see the flowers but never the berries as the birds get them.

I always let a couple of wild baby's breath grow in one bed. Not invasive and kinda cute.

We have white wild yarrow in parts of the lawn we don't even try to get rid of, but in the beds I leave all yarrow until it flowers then pull the white. I have colored yarrow that I like so need to differentiate.

I allow Hesperis matronalis some space. It came in with a wildflower mix I planted many years ago and has spread slowly in a couple of places. It's actually a tame plant that's become a weed. Not difficult to pull and doesn't get too invasive in this cold climate.

I have a pink mallow that I regard as a pretty weed and have let spread for years. I think this is it's last year.

We have lots of wild purple asters outside the house yard and I've thot of allowing them within but there are too many other nicer plants I'd rather give the space to.

I let the little wild violets have free reign. If I find wild ferns, I may transplant them with the same area. I also leave wild daisies, until they start flopping over and look ratty. If they stay within the group planting, I leave them as a filler. There is a shrub growing on my hillside that somewhat resembles ninebark, but it is more range-y. It has yellow flowers and is quite attractive. I plan to leave that.

I don't remember it being there last year, but this year I have Queen Anne's Lace growing around our woodpile. On my way to work this morning I noticed fields and fields of Queen Anne's lace and chicory? (That's what I've been told that the blue flowers were.) By this afternoon, the chicory was already closed up. They look so beautiful together! I would welcome some chicory into the garden to go with the Queen Anne's lace. (as long as it behaves itself.) I would also welcome some of that pretty orange butterfly weed and some goldenrod into my gardens. I travel some backroads to get to work and it seems every week there's something new growing. Maybe I should start carrying a shovel and a bucket in my trunk :)

lilyfinch: Oh no! I feel terrible now. DH and I just dug up a humongous (approx. 7ft. tall) pokeweed because we thought it was a poisonous weed! I din't know that birds liked the berries :( The stalk on that sucker was over 4 inches in diameter. It had grown up inside my forsythia bushes for years. DH kept trimming it everytime it would rise above the bushes because he couldn't get inside the bushes to dig it up. This year he removed one of the bushes and dug up the pokeweed. Now I feel like I've let my little feathered friends down :(

I have some nightshade growing on the back of my fence. It's quite intriguing.

That's interesting about the birds liking the pokeweed. Guess I'll let a few grow.

I also will let the goldenrod stay.

Wow, informative thread. haha. :-)

I keep milkweed because I worry about the monarchs. I've seen so few in the last couple of years. I don't pull goldenrod either - it makes such pretty flower arrangements.Pig weed can stay until it's a good size to harvest, then I pull it, saute and gobble up.

I have alot of pretty weeds, but my favorite is a little flower called Venus' Looking Glass. this year I was overjoyed that one from out back magically planted itself in my new rose garden. I have tried to put it in my gardens before with no luck. It is a small purple star shaped flower on a plant that looks like a tiny hollyhock.
roseberri

Pokeweed
Nodding onions
Dandelions
Horseradish
Chicory
Lamb's Quarters
Creeping Charlie (for a ground cover)
Chickweed (for my chickens)

These are all herbs. I eat all of them except the two in parentheses.

FYI - Chicory has delicious, large deep green leaves that taste very much like Romaine, only better. Packed with vitamin A and trace minerals. If you keep picking the leaves they don't go to flower as soon. Comes back from seed. Has beautiful flowers. If you roast and grind up the roots, it makes a good coffee substitute. (never know when that might come in handy)

Goldenrod makes a delicious and pretty yellow tea.
Get an herb book and learn about them before you use them.

~Annie

I'm keeping purslane. It has no flowers worth noting, apparently spreads like crazy, and can even go to seed after being pulled since it is a succulent and stores enough water to finish it's cycle. But, it's very healthy and high in omega-3, and I pick the leaves to put on our salads. The kids eat it, too, because they think it's a novelty. Ox-eye daisies are keepers, too. I can't believe any daisy could be classified as a weed!

I was reading in another forum that pokeweeds are "invasive" and that same person said to pull them out. We don't pull ours out, it provides food for birds and what not. Plus, they are native, so why pull it out? I try not to pull anything out (taht isn't in my garden beds, I mean) that is native. We have field at our old property that we are just letting go back to nature. It will be interesting to see what grows there through the years. If I see a tree of heaven though, i'm braving the ticks and pulling that bugger out.

two I brought that are allowed to stay in small areas (don't respect other's personal space:
dayflower
violets

Wild, but appreciated and allowed to stay:
goldenrod
yarrow
sneezeweed (in moderation)
tickseed

Joe Pye Weed is my favorite 'weed'. It's a favorite among birds too.

I have to agree with christinmk. I have the rover bellflower in my backyard in a spot that I haven't been able to get anything else to grow. I do let it flower for a few weeks and then cut it back. I have it behind a yellow daylily that doesn't seem bothered by it and when the two bloom together it's almost magical. I only just found out this year what a pest it is to get rid of.....Oops....I was just grateful that something was blooming in my almost full shade patch and it just volunteered to be there. I guess some things are too good to be true :)

janna, that reminds me; ironweed and Queen of the Prairie and volunteer sunflowers (two kinds)

I also have meadowsweet if that can be classified a 'weed'. Also Filipendula and veronicastrum.

I'm almost embarassed to post this...but here it is...pokeweed! We had just moved into the house last summer, and the backyard was completely barren due to having the oil tank removed and the hole was filled with what seemed to be mostly sand. We had so much else going on, we've just sort of ignored the backyard. I noticed these plants sprouting last year and just left them, not knowing what they were. They got about 4 or 5 feet tall and died after the first frost...I assumed they were annual weeds. I was wrong, they were the very first thing to emerge this spring and are now up to the eaves of the house...at least 8 feet tall and starting to flower. I admit, I could have cut them down at any time...but it's become sort of an experiment to see just how big they can get! The sad part is, I even kind of like them a bit :-)

And yes...that thing in front is a Tree of Heaven sapling...they are EVERYWHERE and this one met it's end right after I snapped this photo...they are one week I won't let get a toe-hold if I can help it...that and the blackberries.