I have 2 plants growing in my backyard. I planted sunflowers and pictures 04 and 24 show what came up. I call them mutant sunflowers. Whatever they are, they are over 9 feet tall. In picture 58 is another plant I have never seen. Can you please tell me what they are?

Thanks, Don

These are two weedy plants. The tall plant in pictures 04 and 24 is horseweed, Conyza canadensis. And in image 58 the fine textured weed is dogfennel, Eupatorium capillaris. Do not allow these to bloom and set seeds or you may have these weeds popping up everywhere.

When you plant seeds of a plant and you do not know what seedlings of that plant look like, always plant a few seeds in a pot. When the seeds in the pot come up, you can compare those seedlings to what you see coming up in the ground where you planted the seeds. This will allow you to distinguish between the seedlings of sunflowers and weed seedlings.

Dan Gill
Consumer Horticulture Specialist