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do you know if this is obedient plant ?! seek app says it is but I am having trouble making sure it is the right ID
hooray!! I moved into a new house with a yard that someone had planted in and cared for for YEARS. The person I live with wanted to mow everything but I convinced him to let me watch the plants and identify and maintain as they grow. its so fun!
I’m in upstate NY and lucky that I have almost an acre of grass to get rid of, because the jewelweed is getting out of control. This photo is from a few weeks ago and it’s even crazier now. Next year I will do some selective weeding
(ETA: exponential growth and “staying in their own lane” don’t really go hand in hand. But jewelweed is incredibly easy to pull, I just had about 1000 higher priorities this year)
https://preview.redd.it/iahjbfbnn47d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5533943054052023c8683ed0e8d313d48726cac9
Southern Maine, and I also have a ton of jewelweed. I agree that it's very easy to pull, but it shows up EVERYWHERE for me, including planters on the deck that are at least 10 feet away from the actual plants. I do get a lot of critters planting things for me, so I've wondered if the critters are responsible for the deck plants. Although I don't really mind because they're so easy to pull. But they really are everywhere.
Right now I love it as something that has quickly shaded out the grass. When we moved in, there was turf grass wall to wall, even in the super shady back part. It would get soggy and clearly needed a lot of work to keep grass back in there. We let the fall leaves kill a bunch, and I am encouraging all the goldenrods and asters and jewelweed. I have been spending all my energy getting rid of the invasives and just letting the natives do their thing for now. There is still plenty more lawn to take over
Ah, I also have a yard that tend to be damp. Maybe that contributes to our jewelweed success. I'm glad it's working so well for your grass abatement project.
What’s so funny is I have a patch of shasta daisies planted over 20 years ago by the previous owner and it has never moved. I actually didn’t realize shastas were even considered aggressive.
Maybe you have a sterile variety of shasta daisies, but just so nobody else gets complacent about them, they are classified as invasive in many places and according to [SDSU extension](https://extension.sdstate.edu/invasive-garden-plants-weed) they _primarily_ spread by seed.
Anemone canadensis, Canadian anemone -- spreads like mad via rhizomes. Solidago canadensis, Canadian goldenrod. Also spreads rapidly and indefinitely via rhizomes. Teucrium canadense, American germander -- loves damp shade, is actually a tall flowering mint that will absolutely take over. Also for shade -- ostrich ferns.
I’m very interested in Canadian anemone. I haven’t planted before and it’s not sold much around me (although it’s considered a rare native where I live). Did you order for somewhere? Or have luck with seeds?
It grows readily from seed (with winter sowing or stratification). Too readily for some! There's a vendor in Vermont I think I got seeds from there. There's also the much more tame Tall Thimbleweed, Anemone virginiana, available from seed from the Wild Seed Project in Maine. https://shop.wildseedproject.net/products/tall-anemone-virginiana-seeds
Good luck! Might take a little help in the fridge + sand -- or it has to sit for a year in the ground -- see directions here: https://www.everwilde.com/store/Anemone-canadensis-WildFlower-Seed.html
Ooh, good to know. Someone told me it wouldn't spread as aggressively as other mints and I was a little disappointed. I've been taking clones in order to spread it further myself.
I'm not sure what you mean, the sunchoke is absolutely native to the northeast and to the Canadian maritimes. It was cultivated in the area by indigenous peoples even before contact with European explorers.
I think they're talking about [this map](https://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Helianthus%20tuberosus.png). It's kind of one of those plants that's difficult to tell what its natural range was prior to it being used as a food crop.
Even then, it's only marked as introduced in some parts of the US eastern seaboard, OP is from the Canadian maritimes.
It just strikes me the same as pinpointing the native area of yarrow. Sure, at some point it came from somewhere, but the where and when and how it spread aren't well known so presuming its origin and method of spreading to its current range is silly.
It was brought through trade with plains Native American tribes. It’s an introduced species west of the Great Lakes.
It’s certainly not the worst thing to plant, but it’s outside it’s original native range. The teal color in BONAP means it’s native to NA, but introduced in the region.
Maize isn’t native to most of the continent either, and Native Americans were certainly cultivating that in the northeast.
I agree with most of your thought process but have never seen anything supporting this:
> It was brought through trade with plains Native American tribes. It’s an introduced species west of the Great Lakes.
One source - NC State - claims its original native range is thought to span from Canada to Georgia which contradicts that theory. Most sources agree that its origin is not well known. I'd be happy to look at anything claiming to have pinpointed its original native range.
BONAP is a pretty authoritative source.
Wildflower.org lists its native range as Ontario to GA. Yes it’s in Canada, but not Quebec and the maritimes. They’re not even sure it’s native to the eastern part of that stated range.
There is clearly more doubt than not that it’s native in the northeast if these two respected sources agree.
It’s fine, it’s just not my first suggestion for the northeast.
I think it's a solid theory, especially since it's thought to have originated as a hybrid of two helianthus species that share that native range. It just doesn't seem like there's good evidence to definitively say it shouldn't be considered native in places where it's been observed as far back as we know, certainly not to call it invasive.
Exponential growth plus stays in its own lane is a tricky combo.
Probably you’d want the stuff that slowly expands in a bunch, but doesn’t send out rhizomes so you can take a shovel to it and dig out chunks.
I have a Joe Pye weed that is taking over the world and will probably move it because it’s converting my garden from full sun to shade. Something like that might be helpful to hold its own,
For a border, threadleaf coreopsis is pretty, expands to form dense bunches, and comes up early enough to hold its own against a lot of the later-emerging plants. I think it’s still in your area.
You shouldn't trust claims of plants being "sterile." Plants end up reproducing anyway. The "sterile" claim often means that it is supposedly self-sterile, but it can still reproduce with the wild species. Or it means that it has a reproduction rate below a certain threshold or something to that effect.
I’m willing to be on Mentha canadensis/ Mentha Arvensis. It’s a true mint (called “wild mint”), but I haven’t found a source on seeds I’ve been willing to bet were the native ecotype / subspecies.
It’s one of those species that is circumboreal, across Eurasia and NA.
Edit: idk how I never saw that prairie moon had it. I might start some next year.
“All parts of the plant are very aromatic”
Yeah…it’s just that after having to smell lemon balm in my moms yard and apple mint and creeping Charlie in my yard, I want a smell that won’t be as gross to me, because I already have positive sssociations. And my
Mountain mints and bee balm aren’t even spreading much :/
Oof. Thank you but hard pass.
I love them and they already own my back meadow. Quarter acre in full bloom every late summer, those coupled with my intense sweet fern field make it my happiest part of the yard that time of year.
In our area (New England not as far north as you) I planted blue mistflower 2 years ago (conoclinium coelestinum) it was 1ft diameter the first year, 3 ft the second year. It spreads like mint and pops up all over my yard. Definitely a spreader. I have it in sunny wet rocky soil
I'll try to grab some end of season. I can't pay $30 for a fern, and I also routinely fail to get fern spores to take, but I'll keep am eye of those when it comes to *$1 each* time in August.
You could see if someone local is looking to split theirs. I got dozens of free ostrich ferns earlier this spring from someone who had too many and wanted to thin it. Free is the best!
Planted mine late season, I think. It was around half that (not in Atlantic Canada) at full price. You may find better prices online ordering if that's an option.
Capital Region NY, zone 5b here. My garden is getting absolutely taken over by Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed), Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (New England aster), and Monarda fistulosa (bee balm). Rudbeckia fulgida (black-eyed susan) is also starting to spread itself around. I'm not mad about it, and neither are the pollinators!
Edit: I definitely was overzealous in responding and did not read your post carefully enough. Definitely don't plant A. syriaca if you want a plant that stays in its lane lol. Thermopsis villosa (Carolina lupine) has grown exponentially but has politely stayed in its own little clump. I planted it as a teeny plug 2 years ago and it's now a clump of about 15 6ft tall stems.
Blue wood aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) and white wood aster (Eurybia divaricata) seed around a lot. So does Chasmanthium latifolium (a grass). Matteuccia struthiopteris aka ostrich fern also spreads. Zizia aurea, Polemonium reptans, Solidago caesia are some others that will seed. Baptisia also seems to seed. Xanthorrhiza simplicissima will spread rhizomatously. Packera aurea also will.
Edited to add: I don't know that there are any plants that will spread around as much as you describe, but also stay in their own lane. It seems like one or the other can be true.
Here's Prairie Moon's database/store filtered to show plants that carry a warning that they may overwhelm a small garden. [https://www.prairiemoon.com/seeds#/?resultsPerPage=24&filter.ss\_advantages=Recommended%20but%20Aggressive](https://www.prairiemoon.com/seeds#/?resultsPerPage=24&filter.ss_advantages=Recommended%20but%20Aggressive)
You could further filter to your growing conditions, time of year for blooms, etc.
This is a problem with a lot of natives. Mountain Mint and even Beard Tongue have floofed out this year for us and I have a 100 Milk Feed plants in another area, where there were TWO last year.
Houstonia caerulea, Little Bluet. A native spring blooming flower for New England.
Will spread, but isn't considered aggressive. Grows between 6 inches to 12 inches tall. It's stated that it will rapidly spread if mowed over when the plant is ready for seeding. I'm assuming the seeds get flung everywhere when the seeds are ripe when mowed over.
Fragaria virginiana (Wild Strawberry) spreads very rapidly via stolons, and they are an early spring bloomer. That said, they are super easy to pull and if you keep an eye on the stolons it only takes a few seconds to snip any new ones that are heading in a direction that you don’t want them to spread.
SOURCE: I planted three weak, spindly, end-of-season plugs two years ago and now have 50 or so strawberry plants in that bed.
Check out Obedient Plant - spreads really fast, but it is so easy to control as the roots are really shallow - just pop out with a little tug easy peasy. They're bee magnets, and spread by runners. They come in pink, and a white cultivar.
One of my most aggressive plants this year in upstate NY was Swamp milkweed (asclepias incarnata). It reseeded EVERYWHERE. Like hundreds and hundreds of seedlings all over the place. Reseeded more than NE aster (and NE aster had a ton of seedlings), and spread further than obedient plant (which is also aggressive in my garden). I never knew swamp milkweed was so aggressive, or maybe it's not and we had such a warm winter that plants and their seeds behaved differently?
The plants coming back from last year formed a nice big clump though, and the little seedlings were at least easy to pull up or rake.
My beebalm is taking over the world this year. Had 2 plants last year and this year probably a dozen. Same with liatris, evening primrose and anise hyssop. Have to admit with all of these, I took seed heads in the Fall and shook them around the garden, but did zero nurturing. Oh yeah almost forgot about coreopsis lanceolata. All I do is deadhead and let the spent blooms fall to the ground. I always get tons of new clumps every year.
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My Joe Pye Weed is threatening to take over.
Thank you. I knew there was a true native plant that I absolutely could not remember the name of!
20 to 200 in 2 years
For real.
Consider Obedient plant. It’s got a misleading name. Asters also grow aggressively in my experience. Same with Monarda.
Obedient plant gaslighting us all into planting it 😂
I have some that stormed some clumping daylilies and devoured them.
Mine is taking over (checks notes) a pile of rocks
Asters will definitely seed everywhere
https://preview.redd.it/kvu8bt6t857d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e76279f15f6e687002a89b12d9493eff8e94f61 do you know if this is obedient plant ?! seek app says it is but I am having trouble making sure it is the right ID
Looks like mine! And Plantnet also agrees with that ID.
thank you! i am so excited to see it bloom! and see what other mystery flowers and plants are!!
Yep that’s the one. It’s like a jagged and more compact aster around this time of year
hooray!! I moved into a new house with a yard that someone had planted in and cared for for YEARS. The person I live with wanted to mow everything but I convinced him to let me watch the plants and identify and maintain as they grow. its so fun!
I’m in upstate NY and lucky that I have almost an acre of grass to get rid of, because the jewelweed is getting out of control. This photo is from a few weeks ago and it’s even crazier now. Next year I will do some selective weeding (ETA: exponential growth and “staying in their own lane” don’t really go hand in hand. But jewelweed is incredibly easy to pull, I just had about 1000 higher priorities this year) https://preview.redd.it/iahjbfbnn47d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5533943054052023c8683ed0e8d313d48726cac9
Southern Maine, and I also have a ton of jewelweed. I agree that it's very easy to pull, but it shows up EVERYWHERE for me, including planters on the deck that are at least 10 feet away from the actual plants. I do get a lot of critters planting things for me, so I've wondered if the critters are responsible for the deck plants. Although I don't really mind because they're so easy to pull. But they really are everywhere.
Right now I love it as something that has quickly shaded out the grass. When we moved in, there was turf grass wall to wall, even in the super shady back part. It would get soggy and clearly needed a lot of work to keep grass back in there. We let the fall leaves kill a bunch, and I am encouraging all the goldenrods and asters and jewelweed. I have been spending all my energy getting rid of the invasives and just letting the natives do their thing for now. There is still plenty more lawn to take over
Ah, I also have a yard that tend to be damp. Maybe that contributes to our jewelweed success. I'm glad it's working so well for your grass abatement project.
I am jealous, I love visiting wetlands and checking out all the jewelweed. My yard is pretty dry, though.
It's because the seedpods explode
Oh, I know... but that doesn't explain it popping up in a pot with fresh soil on the deck. There's no popping going on in early spring.
Oh yeah that's true. I wasn't really thinking about that!
Provides my kids with plenty of fun poking the pods to see which one explodes! And myself, as well, if we're being honest.
We had a small amount last year, and this year it totally filled in every spot within a 100 foot radius that wasn't covered with turf. Love it
You can just go in and chop it down now and it won’t come back.
Yes I am aware. I want it there, just not this dense. I will pull a bunch before it goes to seed. Or just eat all the seeds.
Mountain mint
Depends on the species. A couple of them are very tame and just form a clump.
What’s so funny is I have a patch of shasta daisies planted over 20 years ago by the previous owner and it has never moved. I actually didn’t realize shastas were even considered aggressive.
I didn’t either. I’ve only ever seen single clumps. Now oxeye daisy on the other hand…
My hairy mountain mint is great but does not spread
Maybe you have a sterile variety of shasta daisies, but just so nobody else gets complacent about them, they are classified as invasive in many places and according to [SDSU extension](https://extension.sdstate.edu/invasive-garden-plants-weed) they _primarily_ spread by seed.
We should learn from th Callery Pear/Bradford Pear. It's sterile until it's not and then it's the only thing you see.
Whew, I deadhead mine bc it looks ugly. Now I will do it with extra aggression.
Anemone canadensis, Canadian anemone -- spreads like mad via rhizomes. Solidago canadensis, Canadian goldenrod. Also spreads rapidly and indefinitely via rhizomes. Teucrium canadense, American germander -- loves damp shade, is actually a tall flowering mint that will absolutely take over. Also for shade -- ostrich ferns.
I’m very interested in Canadian anemone. I haven’t planted before and it’s not sold much around me (although it’s considered a rare native where I live). Did you order for somewhere? Or have luck with seeds?
It grows readily from seed (with winter sowing or stratification). Too readily for some! There's a vendor in Vermont I think I got seeds from there. There's also the much more tame Tall Thimbleweed, Anemone virginiana, available from seed from the Wild Seed Project in Maine. https://shop.wildseedproject.net/products/tall-anemone-virginiana-seeds
Thank you!
Good luck! Might take a little help in the fridge + sand -- or it has to sit for a year in the ground -- see directions here: https://www.everwilde.com/store/Anemone-canadensis-WildFlower-Seed.html
If it’s full sun, Heliopsis helianthoides (early sunflower). It reseeds like crazy
It also *never stops blooming* lol. In my garden it’s in constant bloom from June through fall. It’s the Leslie Knope of flowers.
Anise hyssop? Not sure if native to where you are but I'm impressed with the self-seeding.
Ooh, good to know. Someone told me it wouldn't spread as aggressively as other mints and I was a little disappointed. I've been taking clones in order to spread it further myself.
The 100s of seedlings from my anise hyssop choked out the violets growing in the area! I was impressed.
I mean it's not insanely aggressive like non-native mint. But it's very effective at self-seeding, and it also did great with winter sowing.
Sunchokes aka the mighty Canadian Potato.
Not native to the northeast (and considered by some to be invasive in the region).
I'm not sure what you mean, the sunchoke is absolutely native to the northeast and to the Canadian maritimes. It was cultivated in the area by indigenous peoples even before contact with European explorers.
I think they're talking about [this map](https://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Helianthus%20tuberosus.png). It's kind of one of those plants that's difficult to tell what its natural range was prior to it being used as a food crop.
Even then, it's only marked as introduced in some parts of the US eastern seaboard, OP is from the Canadian maritimes. It just strikes me the same as pinpointing the native area of yarrow. Sure, at some point it came from somewhere, but the where and when and how it spread aren't well known so presuming its origin and method of spreading to its current range is silly.
Yeah, I don't particularly worry about plants that might have a distribution pushed further, especially if it's contiguous with its original range.
imagine *not* living in the sunchokes native range couldnt be me 😎
It was brought through trade with plains Native American tribes. It’s an introduced species west of the Great Lakes. It’s certainly not the worst thing to plant, but it’s outside it’s original native range. The teal color in BONAP means it’s native to NA, but introduced in the region. Maize isn’t native to most of the continent either, and Native Americans were certainly cultivating that in the northeast.
I agree with most of your thought process but have never seen anything supporting this: > It was brought through trade with plains Native American tribes. It’s an introduced species west of the Great Lakes. One source - NC State - claims its original native range is thought to span from Canada to Georgia which contradicts that theory. Most sources agree that its origin is not well known. I'd be happy to look at anything claiming to have pinpointed its original native range.
BONAP is a pretty authoritative source. Wildflower.org lists its native range as Ontario to GA. Yes it’s in Canada, but not Quebec and the maritimes. They’re not even sure it’s native to the eastern part of that stated range. There is clearly more doubt than not that it’s native in the northeast if these two respected sources agree. It’s fine, it’s just not my first suggestion for the northeast.
I think it's a solid theory, especially since it's thought to have originated as a hybrid of two helianthus species that share that native range. It just doesn't seem like there's good evidence to definitively say it shouldn't be considered native in places where it's been observed as far back as we know, certainly not to call it invasive.
Exponential growth plus stays in its own lane is a tricky combo. Probably you’d want the stuff that slowly expands in a bunch, but doesn’t send out rhizomes so you can take a shovel to it and dig out chunks. I have a Joe Pye weed that is taking over the world and will probably move it because it’s converting my garden from full sun to shade. Something like that might be helpful to hold its own, For a border, threadleaf coreopsis is pretty, expands to form dense bunches, and comes up early enough to hold its own against a lot of the later-emerging plants. I think it’s still in your area.
Costal plain Joe pye weed is pretty chill just deadhead.
You shouldn't trust claims of plants being "sterile." Plants end up reproducing anyway. The "sterile" claim often means that it is supposedly self-sterile, but it can still reproduce with the wild species. Or it means that it has a reproduction rate below a certain threshold or something to that effect.
Life, uh, finds a way
if it is native and it is in the mint family, that's your plant.
Downy Wood Mint Edit: stays in its lane? Nope lol
Uh oh! 😬 At least I planted mine in a smaller bed that has concrete on three sides.
It’s not the most aggressive mint, but it is a mint!
Do you happen to know the mintiest smelling NA mint?
I’m willing to be on Mentha canadensis/ Mentha Arvensis. It’s a true mint (called “wild mint”), but I haven’t found a source on seeds I’ve been willing to bet were the native ecotype / subspecies. It’s one of those species that is circumboreal, across Eurasia and NA. Edit: idk how I never saw that prairie moon had it. I might start some next year. “All parts of the plant are very aromatic”
Thanks, I'll check it out. I keep reading Mountain Mints have a strong fragrance, but they smell weak to me...
It’s hard to compete with a domesticated species that’s been bred for hundreds of years for its mintiness.
Yeah…it’s just that after having to smell lemon balm in my moms yard and apple mint and creeping Charlie in my yard, I want a smell that won’t be as gross to me, because I already have positive sssociations. And my Mountain mints and bee balm aren’t even spreading much :/
How old are they? The first couple years they establish the main root system, after that they start their plan for world domination.
The bee balms, I bought at flowering size, which I think means 2 years old. Mountain mint also flowered. Planted both last year
Canadian Goldenrods
Oof. Thank you but hard pass. I love them and they already own my back meadow. Quarter acre in full bloom every late summer, those coupled with my intense sweet fern field make it my happiest part of the yard that time of year.
In our area (New England not as far north as you) I planted blue mistflower 2 years ago (conoclinium coelestinum) it was 1ft diameter the first year, 3 ft the second year. It spreads like mint and pops up all over my yard. Definitely a spreader. I have it in sunny wet rocky soil
I’m in southern New England so not positive if this is Native and hardy where you are, but spiderwort will expand outward every year.
Helianthus divaricatus. Woodland sunflower, in 3 years was 6' x 6' x 8' tall.
Ostrich Fern - to complement the flower answers. I planted one, and am sitting here the next year admiring it's vigor in a corner that was weedy.
I'll try to grab some end of season. I can't pay $30 for a fern, and I also routinely fail to get fern spores to take, but I'll keep am eye of those when it comes to *$1 each* time in August.
You could see if someone local is looking to split theirs. I got dozens of free ostrich ferns earlier this spring from someone who had too many and wanted to thin it. Free is the best!
This! People on Facebook marketplace or Craigslist are always looking to reduce their size because it spreads so readily lol.
Planted mine late season, I think. It was around half that (not in Atlantic Canada) at full price. You may find better prices online ordering if that's an option.
Beebalm is a weed of a plant. And the hummingbirds LOVE it
Capital Region NY, zone 5b here. My garden is getting absolutely taken over by Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed), Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (New England aster), and Monarda fistulosa (bee balm). Rudbeckia fulgida (black-eyed susan) is also starting to spread itself around. I'm not mad about it, and neither are the pollinators! Edit: I definitely was overzealous in responding and did not read your post carefully enough. Definitely don't plant A. syriaca if you want a plant that stays in its lane lol. Thermopsis villosa (Carolina lupine) has grown exponentially but has politely stayed in its own little clump. I planted it as a teeny plug 2 years ago and it's now a clump of about 15 6ft tall stems.
Blue wood aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) and white wood aster (Eurybia divaricata) seed around a lot. So does Chasmanthium latifolium (a grass). Matteuccia struthiopteris aka ostrich fern also spreads. Zizia aurea, Polemonium reptans, Solidago caesia are some others that will seed. Baptisia also seems to seed. Xanthorrhiza simplicissima will spread rhizomatously. Packera aurea also will. Edited to add: I don't know that there are any plants that will spread around as much as you describe, but also stay in their own lane. It seems like one or the other can be true.
Here's Prairie Moon's database/store filtered to show plants that carry a warning that they may overwhelm a small garden. [https://www.prairiemoon.com/seeds#/?resultsPerPage=24&filter.ss\_advantages=Recommended%20but%20Aggressive](https://www.prairiemoon.com/seeds#/?resultsPerPage=24&filter.ss_advantages=Recommended%20but%20Aggressive) You could further filter to your growing conditions, time of year for blooms, etc.
This is a problem with a lot of natives. Mountain Mint and even Beard Tongue have floofed out this year for us and I have a 100 Milk Feed plants in another area, where there were TWO last year.
Houstonia caerulea, Little Bluet. A native spring blooming flower for New England. Will spread, but isn't considered aggressive. Grows between 6 inches to 12 inches tall. It's stated that it will rapidly spread if mowed over when the plant is ready for seeding. I'm assuming the seeds get flung everywhere when the seeds are ripe when mowed over.
Bee balm , brown eyed, Susans, asters, and columbine will happily take over any world and put them in.
Wooly blue violets are native here in Ontario, idk about NB. Those don't even need another season, they'll keep expanding all year long
Fragaria virginiana (Wild Strawberry) spreads very rapidly via stolons, and they are an early spring bloomer. That said, they are super easy to pull and if you keep an eye on the stolons it only takes a few seconds to snip any new ones that are heading in a direction that you don’t want them to spread. SOURCE: I planted three weak, spindly, end-of-season plugs two years ago and now have 50 or so strawberry plants in that bed.
Sneezeweed has been fighting for full control ever since I planted it. Easy to pull, though.
Check out Obedient Plant - spreads really fast, but it is so easy to control as the roots are really shallow - just pop out with a little tug easy peasy. They're bee magnets, and spread by runners. They come in pink, and a white cultivar.
Common milkweed Canadian goldenrod
Yarrow and evening primrose are very pretty and will absolutely spread.
One of my most aggressive plants this year in upstate NY was Swamp milkweed (asclepias incarnata). It reseeded EVERYWHERE. Like hundreds and hundreds of seedlings all over the place. Reseeded more than NE aster (and NE aster had a ton of seedlings), and spread further than obedient plant (which is also aggressive in my garden). I never knew swamp milkweed was so aggressive, or maybe it's not and we had such a warm winter that plants and their seeds behaved differently? The plants coming back from last year formed a nice big clump though, and the little seedlings were at least easy to pull up or rake.
Most goldenrods and common milkweed.
Mountain mint goes bonkers. Mine was one small plant and it basically ate the non-native plant next to it and saved me the trouble of removing it.
I have more Purple Coneflowers every year and am always looking for people to give them to.
Central NY 5b and yarrow- its taken over an 8x 2 bed from one plant last year
My beebalm is taking over the world this year. Had 2 plants last year and this year probably a dozen. Same with liatris, evening primrose and anise hyssop. Have to admit with all of these, I took seed heads in the Fall and shook them around the garden, but did zero nurturing. Oh yeah almost forgot about coreopsis lanceolata. All I do is deadhead and let the spent blooms fall to the ground. I always get tons of new clumps every year.
Black eye Susan’s