Spreading Dogbane: Weed or Wildflower? By Vicki Barney

I inherited an interesting garden with a house purchased a few years ago.   It was a cottage style garden planted with an abundance of bearded iris, hostas, and vinca, along with specimen perennials and flowering trees.    In an effort to encourage new growth between the existing plants, I removed weed barrier fabric from beneath a heavy layer of mulch, and then waited to see what plants would emerge from the bare soil.   Would seeds sprout from native wildflowers growing close by? Would weeds take over? More importantly, would I be able to distinguish between weeds and wildflowers? In David Whiting’s The Science of Gardening , landscape weeds have many definitions, including: plants growing where they are unwanted, visually unattractive plants, plants that pose a health or safety hazard, and plants that displace more desirable plants in the garden.   The following spring, a variety of plants emerged, as well as numerous weeds.   I identified the first two types of weeds and sought pr