Is this a weed or a flower?

[JScott]

I have this plant growing very well in my flower bed. It's actually quite attractive, and growing well. The thing is, I don't remember planting anything there! So is it a weed? Or a flower?

Honestly, I find it attractive enough, I'll probably leave it there either way, but I was hoping somebody could identify it. Take a look at the pictures, and see if you recognize. I appreciate every one of you and all the help you've given me through the years.

the OB is being weird and says I cannot upload files because a security token is missing. I have no idea what that means, so I've linked you to the pictures in my google drive. I know that's more annoying than having the pics right there on the post, but it's all I could figure out to do:

Update your browser to use Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Sites, Slides, and Forms - Google Drive Help

What? I don't know what that means. If somebody can fix the security ticket thing, I'll redo the post in the standard manner. Sorry guys.

[claypot]

Just remember......... a weed is just a plant in the wrong place. So if you like it leave it.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by claypot

Just remember......... a weed is just a plant in the wrong place. So if you like it leave it.

I like it and I am going to leave it, but mostly I was just curious if I should expect any blooms at any point in the year, if somebody saw the plant and recognized it.

---------- Post added at 01:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:53 PM ----------

And is it just me, or does anybody else think it's cute?

[fishmom]

It looks like Coneflower--Echinacea. A member of the Daisy family, I believe. It does have some traditional medicinal uses. Definitely Cute!

[JScott]

Originally Posted by fishmom

It looks like Coneflower--Echinacea. A member of the Daisy family, I believe. It does have some traditional medicinal uses. Definitely Cute!

I do have an echinacea planted right next to the plant in question, so I think you are seeing that plant.

[Roberta]

The plant in front of the Coneflower looks nice... flowers or not. My yard has a variety of "volunteers" that turned out to be really nice flowers in the spring. So now you just have to wait!

[Fuerte Rav]

It looks like it could be Ground Elder to me. If it is - get it out ASAP!

[Leafmite]

The leaves look familiar but I am not sure what it is. I don't think it is ground elder, though. Virginia creeper? American Ginseng?

[camille1585]

I'm not familiar with what plant genera also grow in the US, but those leaves look like they belong to a Potentilla. A quick online search brought up Potentilla simplex as one common North american species, also known as common cinquefoil.

Yours looks much larger than those in photos I found, but isn't everything supposed to be bigger in TX? Joking aside, in a rich garden soil they might get larger than they would in their typical habitats.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by camille1585

I'm not familiar with what plant genera also grow in the US, but those leaves look like they belong to a Potentilla. A quick online search brought up Potentilla simplex as one common North american species, also known as common cinquefoil.

Yours looks much larger than those in photos I found, but isn't everything supposed to be bigger in TX? Joking aside, in a rich garden soil they might get larger than they would in their typical habitats.

That is the closest anybody else has come up with, but my issue with that is that the plant you mentioned seems to have a taller, more upright growth habit. In that photo where I was holding back the leaves so that you could see the base of the plant, what I was trying to show was that all the leaves emerge from a single point just below the surface of the soil, kind of like how a strawberry plant grows, but with a longer petiole, and this creates an even, rounded mound. Although the leaves are very similar, and the yellow flowers look they could easily belong on that plant in my garden.

We may never know, and even if we don't, I just like it, so it's always going to have a place in my flower bed, even if I never know what to call it. Maybe we can make up our own name hahahaha. Thank you for your suggestion, and thank you for taking the time to help me.

And that's no joke. Everything is bigger here haha

---------- Post added at 06:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:48 AM ----------

It's funny to me how many international people know that phrase "everything is bigger in Texas". Even people who have never left Europe or South America or wherever else they may live, and have never even been to Texas, they know that saying Some people, that's the ONLY thing they know about Texas hahaha. Funny how these things can get around the world the way they do.