Really?? Wow, for some reason this shocks me. I only know what ragweed looks like in bloom, but I've never ever seen it (in bloom) in my yard or any of my neighbors' yards. I guess it's good that I've always pulled whatever I found before bloom, but that makes me think it must be around the neighborhood somewhere. Hmm. Thanks so much for the ID! Gonna pull this right away!

:)

Dee

Ragweed is so ubiquitous that I’m sure there is a 100 year seed bank in everybody’s soil! I pull it right away when I see it sprouting, too.

Ragweed aren't all bad. Their seeds are an important food source for our birds that have decreased in numbers by a third.

I live in what would be called a suburb, but a very rural one - an area of old abandoned farmland and wooded areas. I'm sure there's TONS of ragweed around. I probably don't see much because of all the other stuff that grows along the edges of the roads - unfortunately all the japanese knotweed, garlic mustard, bittersweet, poison ivy, etc.

Whenever I come across a reference to ragweed I'm always reminded of the very indignant (and rather rude) customer at the farmer's market where I sold bouquets, who asked "how I dared" to sell bouquets with ragweed in them. While several people over the years mistook my goldenrod for ragweed, a simple discussion usually sufficed to tell them of the difference. This particular woman was actually quite angry and nothing I could say would convince her I wasn't selling ragweed!

:)

Dee

"While several people over the years mistook my goldenrod for ragweed, a simple discussion usually sufficed to tell them of the difference. This particular woman was actually quite angry and nothing I could say would convince her I wasn't selling ragweed!"

Likewise! I have many friends and family that refer to goldenrod as ragweed, and can't be convinced otherwise. Even a few who understand that it's a totally different plant are still convinced that goldenrod causes their fall allergies and rip it out on their properties, no matter my efforts to explain how goldenrod can't cause allergies because it's insect-pollinated instead of wind-pollinated like ragweed <insert eye roll here>.

Jay, you make a good point, and there wouldn’t be so much ragweed spewing pollen in the air if Europeans hadn’t come along 500 years ago and disturbed the landscape. I’m not allergic to ragweed, so far as I know. But some people are, and it competes for space with the other pollinator plants I am attempting to nurture on my little patch. I don’t douse my plants with insecticide, and declined the offer of a nice young gentleman who came by this year offering to spray my house and yard for ”bugs.” I told him I preferred to let the birds have something to eat. 😉

Yes, sah67, I like to think I convinced at least a few people on the beauty of goldenrod. They bought my bouquets lol so I guess they liked it! I think it's a beautiful, underused plant. I happen to have a LOT of it in my yard, growing naturally, so I actually rip out lots of it in some areas, although I do end up replanting it elsewhere because I like it so much.

Agree completely, sequoia!

:)

Dee

So many times I let ragweed grow as well thinking it was Cosmos sulphureus. It just doesn't "look" like a weed... it looks like something I want to keep 😂

Yes, sw!! I thought the exact same thing - cosmos sulphureus. Especially because I had a ton of it in that bed last year. Oh well.

I've been trying to keep a lookout as I drive each day, and while admittedly I can't look very closely or very well since I'm driving, I'm not really seeing much ragweed along the roads. A TON of goldenrod - I think that's what it is as I drive past, and I am pretty darn familiar with goldenrod, although I could be wrong at 40 miles an hour lol, but I'll watch to see if it blooms. Goldenrod just coming into bloom around here. I'm also seeing a kind of spikey plant with small pale yellowish flowers at the tips, which I'm not sure of what it is, but that's another thread I guess, lol. Or a google session to see what kind of weeds are around here!

:)

Dee

The tall spiky plant could be Oenothera biennis (spelling?) depending on how tall it is. I have it all over with the goldenrod and Queen Anne's Lace.

The ragweed has a serious root on it. I wish all my plants established were so strongly rooted 😂😂

sw you might be right! Hard to tell when driving, but if it ever gets below 90 degrees here and I go for a walk, lol, I'll keep my eye out and see if I can ID this with a closer look. Thanks! I always like to put a name to the plants I see on the side of the road - even if they are mostly weeds!

It always seems to be the weeds that root the most strongly, need the least water, bloom most prolifically.... lol

:)

Dee

Haha yes they always seem to thrive the most 😂. Because of this thread I took note of a very large clump of ragweed today growing near the gravel pile out back.... It's very nondescript and I hardly even noticed it growing at all except that it was already on my mind.

Hey, if I've been responsible for a few less ragweed plants in the world it was worth starting the thread hahaha!

:)

Dee

At the end of a driveway coming out of our church property, there is what looks like a ginormous clump of giant ragweed, so big it makes it hard to see oncoming traffic. I think it’s technically on the neighbor’s property, but I might ”mistakenly” cut it down, if it’s really ragweed👹. I’m one of the volunteer church gardeners, so next time I’m over there I might make an inspection.

Omg, I didn't remember it at all till I opened GW and saw this thread, but I had a dream last night and I was in my garden and was surrounded by some pretty big ragweed lol. Yikes, glad it was just a dream!

:)

Dee

So, a bit of a follow up. I went for a walk this morning, first time in a long time, and observed the roadside plants. There IS ragweed there, although it is greatly outnumbered by goldenrod in particular, and other things. Actually, it's kind of overwhelming how many other things lol. Bittersweet, poison ivy, japanese knotweed, garlic mustard, grasses, grapevine, wild raspberry(?), virginia creeper, sassafras, and lots of other stuff I can't identify.

Anyway, two things I noted about the ragweed. It's not nearly as tall as the stuff that was in my garden. In some spots I think this is because the city comes and mows down some of the roadside stuff every so often. But in other spots they don't, so not sure why it's shorter there. Also, I was kind of surprised at how close to the asphalt the ragweed was growing. It was anywhere from literally on the edge (if the road was another inch wider the ragweed would be buried) to about 12 inches in. No further back than that. I wondered if it likes the heat and more sun closer to the road.

I could start a new thread for the following but its not that important. Just thought I'd throw this out there. Anyone know what this is? It's about six feet tall. Sorry, didn't get a close-up of the buds

This was kind of nice to see - although I guess from what little I know of RoS, they are aggressive if not invasive so maybe not so nice

Is this some kind of milkweed, or maybe joe pye weed?

Lastly, in the vein of how things take over, this used to be a field, with a small tree in the center. It always reminded me of a photo of a Civil War battlefield. It amazes me how overgrown it is and how QUICKLY it became overgrown, in just a few years. It's so full one can't even get a sense of how big this field is now. I took it from two angles trying to show it. The tree is gone - I think it was completely broken down by the growth covering it. The road I stood on slopes down to a ditch, and there is a stone wall, believe it or not, which is totally covered by the grapevine along the bottom of the photo. I don't even know much of what's in here, other than some sassafras, tons of grapevine, and some jewelweed.

Darn, the mention of the jewelweed made me realize I accidentally deleted the best photo - one of some jewelweed and I think what is helianthus tuberosus. Love these little yellow blooms and love to see them along the road. I'll have to get another photo.

:)

Dee

Dee - Your tall mystery plant is one of the wild lettuces, Lactuca sp. I'm not familiar enough to get it down to species though.

sah67 thank you! A (very quick!) google search seems to show conflicting info as to whether it's a native here in CT. Not that I can do much about it either way, lol, but I like to know and be able to identify things.

Thanks!

:)

Dee

Some of the wild lettuces are quite lovely. I grew one this year that is supposed to have blue flowers; Lactuca plumeri.

The last photo does indeed look like Joe Pye Weed, there's masses of it here.

Thanks sw! The photo above was just this little plant (about 2 feet high) along the side of the road. No other ones near it. I did see what I thought was some more on my walk and tried to get a picture of it, but deleted it because it wasn't clear and was too far away. The ones on the side of the road are in dry conditions; the ones I saw farther away are along a sometimes-dry creek. I always thought they needed moist conditions. Actually I've toyed with the idea of planting some along a creek in my friend's yard.

:)

Dee