Here is a clump of the same plant (with a few garlic mustard mixed in). Thanks for any help.

Not sure. Any other pictures?

Fatamorgana, I had a question for you. Sorry for straying off topic. A while back, when you were not on here much, you posted an old ad of yours. In it you said that while observing a patch of wild jewellweed, you came across one with a lavender color. I don't believe the post contained any final summery of the situation, so I was hoping you could enlighten me.

Wild Ginger would be great! However I'm not sure how it could have gotten here in such large numbers - I don't recall ever seeing before and I've lived in this area for a long time. Also as shown in my first picture above many of the plants have more than two leaves. Are there any weeds that look like Wild Ginger? I've been googling for a half hour and haven't found anything...I really hope it is Wild Ginger! Here are a couple more pictures.

Definitely not wild ginger, asarum. I’m getting a Boraginaceae vibe, personally.

Me too.

Me three.

Anything more specific? I googled Boraginaceae and none of the images resembled what I have. Thanks

We are working on it. A flower photo would help a lot. Whenever it gets flowers.

Omphalodes verna????

There it is. What a relief!!!!

Note my ???. This isn't a definitive id. I don't know what O Verna would be doing in a thicket in Wisconsin. Dumped garden rubbish? Or is this buckthorn thicket actually in someone's yard rather than a wild area?

No flowers yet...This weed is in my yard, it sprouted from seed this spring...there's probably 1/2-3/4 acre of it if you put all the patches together. I removed buckthorn a couple years ago, sprayed a lot of herbicide last summer.. removed a lot of leaf litter last fall..and planted tall fescue and ryegrass this spring...as well as some wildflower seed (1 pound spread over 1.5 acres...nothing that resembles what's in the photo)

The fact that it's in your yard makes it more likely that it is the non-native O verna. When in flower O verna looks rather different with taller stems and blue flowers. That's the image you'll usually find when googling. Not many pix of the non flowering basal foliage are to be seen.

Thanks! I'll post updates when the plants change appearance.

O verna flowers in early spring so you won't see any blooms now until next year, if that is what it is.

I think I may have found a second-year plant...assuming this is a biennial...it is a single stalk about 4 feet tall with very similar leaves.. but no basal leaves...tiny white flowers on branches are just starting to blossom ...thanks for any input

Well it's not Omphalodes verna. It does look like Boraginaceae though. But could you give us a close up of the flowers. I can barely see any detail.

Hackelia ?

This is the best I could do. The white flower is maybe the size of a BB...very tiny. There are clusters of them on each branch Thanks!

Agree with Carol. Kudos to floral, it's still Boraginaceae.

Thanks, I agree too! I wish it was O verna, this thing looks nasty. A lot of work ahead for me to get rid of it.

Pictures:

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=hackelia&qpvt=hackelia&FORM=IARRSM

To gnomeabram : Hello, resuming perpetual me vs. them battle. Hackelia appeared yet? I haven't spotted any though know it's coming -- major bur seed infestation in wetland buffer spots 2018, didn't stumble into until too late to spray much less pull. Yes, disposal of socks, shoes, and trousers completely covered with burs....

I've spotted a few in the early stages of growth, but not expecting the explosion until the weather warms up. Garlic mustard, on the other hand, is just about ready to meet its fate by the end of the week (hopefully).

Speaking of fate, what is your preferred mix to 1) broadly spray areas thick with 2'-3' buckthorn saplings if not concerned about collateral damage, and 2) spot treat scattered saplings around desirable species? Thanks.

For thickets my go-to in spring and summer has always been a mix of triclopyr/2-4d and a surfactant...according to my notes (haven't sprayed this in quite a while) I was doing 4 oz triclopyr, 5 oz 2-4d and 0.66 oz "Top Surf" Surfactant per gallon. Once you get into autumn a 2.5% solution of glyphosate + surfactant seems to work just as well but its cheaper. I've shied away from spot spraying because I always get collateral damage no matter how careful I am. Now I either mow or treat stumps if there is anything of value in the vicinity.

Last fall I bought a quart of Milestone to treat creeping charlie and crownvetch, and for the heck of it showered a wall of buckthorn on the property line with it...Almost immediately the leaves began to shrivel... so far it doesn't appear to be budding but I'm not ready to draw any conclusions yet. Would be a nice alternative since Milestone supposedly doesn't affect grasses but is also residual. It appears to be expensive but each quart makes over 200 gallons of spray (you have to use a syringe to measure accurately)

Thanks for all the useful information. Surveying those dense areas non-invasives not yet present, appears early enough for glyphosate but will utilize your 4/5/0.66 mix or lop & direct apply Triclopyr elsewhere. Yesterday walked much of the naturalscape tackled (wish could say tamed) to spot spray using premix Ortho Weed Be Gone, bought for its sprayer setup (normally dilute Q4 Plus Turf). I found Horizon sprayer can yield collateral damage you reference). Read Canadian goldenrod best treated by its dicamba component -- goodly amount to eradicate maintained for garlic mustard suppression until sufficient fescue migration.

Wow, Milestone is expensive! My Creeping Charlie custom mix to date has included 2,4-D/ Triclopyr/ Q4 Plus Turf/ surfactant. Unfortunately CC outbreak in barren viaduct slope area, utilized the Ortho product knowing will need to retreat w/ souped-up mix.

Done any bare root shrub or trees planting?

The Q4 Plus looks interesting, but seems way more expensive than Milestone in terms of price per gallon of spray. Milestone is mixed at a rate of 4 ml per gallon whereas other herbicides require multiple ounces (1 oz = 29 ml) per gallon of spray. Big upfront investment but it goes a long way. Noticed a few CC made it through last fall's spraying so looks like I'll be spraying again when it blooms. That is some nasty stuff. Planted 50 2-2 Eastern White Pines a couple weeks ago from Pikes Peak Nursery in PA. So far only one of them looks to be toast. Probably the last seedlings I plant on this property - out of room!

Yes, sprayed "new" CC found along viaduct areas plus patches bolting second-year garlic mustard obviously missed 2018. Most bare root elderberry, nannyberry, hackberry, tamarack, Red Feather Arrowood, and three varieties Catalpa planted over past two weeks taking off thanks to weekend rains. Seems banner year for dandelions though.

Q.: Found five buckthorns seeding in thicket maintained to screen Cty Hwy 61. We've become convinced mature females emit chemical inhibiting seed formation on young plants which when removed, free berry production on plants deemed male. Know fall-winter best treatment window but can't let those mature. To kill for now but leave standing would you recommend trill + Triclopyr treat at base? If so what concentration (Garlon-3)? Thanks!

Interesting theory about the female buckthorns, I will have to start paying attention to that! Last summer I found some seed-forming buckthorns on my mother's property mid-summer and didn't have any herbicide with me. What I did have was a chainsaw and spray paint, so I proceeded to cut these trees off around waist height and spray painted the stump so I could easily find it during the winter. While the tree didn't die, it also couldn't produce viable seeds either. They attempted to form a hydra on the upper half of the stump -it's important to leave a tall stump or the hydra will grow from ground level and make killing more difficult. I cut them to the ground this winter and treated with glyphosate.

Jay- I just saw the note from last summer here asking about a jewelweed variant I found. I had an article I posted years ago on someone else's blog about it but that blog has since been taken down. If I am remembering correctly, the jewelweed in question was Impatiens pallida var alba. A beauty in cream and pink. I have pictures someplace.

Now THAT'S interesting, easier to knock out if hydra high above base. In related vein I've kept volunteer (well aren't they all?) box elders in one area trimmed to 3' hedge. As fescue migrates there clip near base & apply Triclopyr-4 successfully. Now trying on small BT.

Read glossy BT has both male and female characteristics. Perhaps our 'morphers' are inhibited by mature plants which if removed stimulates seeding.

Very stiff from yesterday's work but back out there -- PM forecast rain w/ gusts up to 55mph. At times restoration seems unattainable. So many demands, so little time....

Weird that I even saw this! Yes fatamorgana I was interested, and it was a long time ago. I've seen a lot of jewelweed already this year. I just was interested in finding out if the plant you saw was a mutation or a hybrid of some Himalayan/native cross. I didn't know about the pallida alba. I was drawn here because of buckthorn problems, and what a surprise! I even tried contacting you personally about it back at the time lol. Please don't ever leave me hanging like that again haha! I have a thread in the native plants forum. You are most welcome to come over there and share your pictures!

Did you ever figure out, I seem to have same thing is it jackweed?