No milkweed in any of the pictures. Top could be Tagetes. There are flower buds so you'll know when they open.

I don't know what the first picture is.

The second and third picture both look like a plant called false daisy/Eclipta prostrata. It's in the huge aster family -

The last picture looks like common plantain. It could possibly be a coneflower (their first leaves look similar to me) but I think plantain is it -

Sherry

Bummer that none of these are milkweed I guess I just spent a few months nurturing a bunch of weeds.

I actually did plant coneflower, and it would be fantastic if it the plant is a coneflower, but I am not going getting my hopes up.

Thanks for the responses.

Annie, what kind of milkweed were you trying to grow?

Last one isn't a Plantago. Perhaps Rudbeckia, but 100% not plantain.

I cold stratified and then planted the following:
Milkweed, butterfly weed
Milkweed, asclepias tuberosa, hello yello
Milkweed, asclepias perennis
Milkweed, swamp.

I think the perennis and perhaps the butterfly weed germinated. In the backstory that I wrote in my original post, I noted that I kept a diary but I lost track of things because I combined the seedlings in one container, and even though I labeled, I began to get volunteers which made things difficult to keep up with.

In addition to the milkweed, I cold stratified and planted the following:
Anise hyssop
Asparagus
Black-eyed Susan / Rudbeckia - 1-2 types
Catmint
Coneflower - 1-2 types
Coreopsis
Foxglove
Gaillardia
Joe Pyeweed
Lavender
Salvia
Tansy
Thyme
Verbena

Out of curiosity, what is it about the last plant that makes you so sure it isn't plantain? It grows all over a section of my back yard, and I was SO surprised when those tall, plantain flower spikes came up. I had been sure they were a type of coneflower that has a spatula-shaped leaf that grows in the Deep South.

Sherry

Sounds like you germinated them correctly. It's a shame you lost them all, especially the A. perennis, that's a beautiful one. I'm planning on winter sowing my milkweeds, each species in its own labeled milk jug.

Does anyone have an idea what this plant is? I was told above that it is not a milkweed but hopefully I can get an ID to figure out whether or not it is something I planted or if it is an unwanted volunteer.

Thanks.

Looks like it could be milkweed. Tuberosa, Perenis, or swamp. Definitely not A. Syriaca though. wait till it flowers and see what it looks like.

Compare to Apocynum cannibinum.

Those leaves sure look alternate to me. That wouldn't fit milkweed or Apocynum species that I've seen.

I was going to suggest that Jay but these leaves appear to be alternate. Could you take a pic from the side or confirm if the leaves are opposite or alternate.

Edited to add : I was typing as you were posting Carol.

Maybe it's a willow seedling. Just throwing that out there. I don't think it's on the list of items you intentionally sowed.

Here is another photo. So it looks like an unintentional plant. My plan was to pull it but if it is Apocynum cannibinum / dogbane I am reading that it is a host plant for hummingbird moth larvae, aka hornworms. Hornworm season is approaching so I may keep it around as a trap crop or relocation site.

Annie your plant has alternate leaves so it is not an Apocynum.

Could it be a polygonum?It looks like a willow too. Are the stems soft or woody?

Looks like a willow to me.

Are the stems soft or woody?

Woody.

It is very likely willow. Alternate leaves and woody.

Several caterpillars like to munch on willow trees, including viceroy, western tiger swallowtail and mourning cloak.

Your first photo looks like Tansy to me. Very easy to know for sure, crush or bruise a few leaves, will smell amazing, almost licorice like.

The buds are not right for tansy. I imagine they will have flowered by now so if the OP is still about maybe they already know the id.

And if not Tagetes as you suggested perhaps Anthemis.

I wish it was tansy but it looks like it is from the Tagetes family.

I wouldn't be too dissapointed. Tansy is a very agressive plant that is almost impossible to control in a garden. You have one of the prettier leaved Tagetes. It looks close to Tagetes lucida, Mexican Tarragon. Yes, marigolds can smell like licorice too. I fell in love with Tansy when I first saw it. Started growing a plant that was soon 3 plants, then 5 plants. Realizing it would take over my garden, I got rid of it.

You probably know by now but the first one looks like one of the little gem marigolds. Tagetes signet. What did it turn out to be?

The last does look like coneflower.

Here is a picture of the first plant with blooms.

Although it could be a single french type, the fine foliage and small size looks like a signet. I should have called it Tagetes tenuifolia in the last post.