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I planted a wildflower scatter garden two years ago in this location, but these only came up for the first time this year. Because of the nearby buddleia, I let it live, thinking the leaves were part of that plant (they're very similar), but it's a totally different plant. The best ID I can come up with is Canada goldenrod (definitely not part of the seed mix), but these flowers seem to be white, not yellow, and mid-July seems a bit early to me for goldenrod. By the way, the tallest spikes on this plant are about 5' at the moment.
Anyone have any ideas...either for a different ID on this plant or why this is early/white? And how aggressive is it? I recently watched a PBS gardening program where an English gardener was delighted to have goldenrod in her beds, but I've always thought of it as a weed.
I also grow some grow some goldenrods and think that there are many species that make good garden plants. Unfortunately, most people are only familiar with species like Canada Goldenrod and Giant Goldenrod that are pretty aggressive and only work in certain garden situations.
Resin, the flower definitely looks at bit valerian-like, but the leaves aren't right. I agreed with KSBaptisia that it must be boneset, since the plant file photos are a dead ringer...especially the look of the leaves. Thanks, too, altagardener and KSBaptisia, for the info about goldenrod, though it looks like I won't need it after all! I certainly do wonder how the doggone thing found its way into my garden, but I think I'll let it stay, at least for this summer (though I'm certainly going to deadhead pretty carefully so it doesn't take over).
It may have been in your seed mix from last year. Many plants have seeds that need to be exposed to cold, damp conditions for several weeks, months, or even years before they will germinate. If you planted your wildflower mix in the late spring or early summer, the boneset seeds would have just lain dormant until this year.
Unless your garden is really wet, I wouldn't worry too much about boneset taking over. It is a wetland plant in nature. Although it will tolerate normal garden conditions, it won't rapidly spread under those conditions.
