Weed, tree or plant worth keeping?

twopenny

I've had 2 of these grow in a discarded pot.

I know the little spots of Vervain on the left seeded from elsewhere.

But not sure about the 2 larger ones on the right.
I did have a couple of Dalia corms that were knocking around, I thought I'd planted and they'd not survived.

Could they be or is it one of the random things that got blown across our gardens in the spring storm?

-taff

They look like dahlias, the big ones...

twopenny

Thanks Taff.
I did wonder but it's been decades since I grew them so I'm not familiar.
It would be a real treat if it was.

-taff

First time growing them this year, I'm getting used ot seeing the foliage and how fast it can get eaten if I don't make them inaccessible....

Twixty3

To me it looks more like ground elder (weed)

https://www.environetuk.com/invasive-species/ground-elder/identification

-taff

Just been out to take a photo, hopefully it shows similarities?

-taff

Damn twixty, you could be right....

twopenny

Not ground elder Twixty though I know why you'd think so.
Last garden had tons of it so I'm very familiar with that.

Thanks for that effort Taff. The leaves are similar just smaller but considering what I've put them through it's not surprising.
Yours are really healthy. 🙂

Dustyevsky

As a well-known conspiracy theorist, I'd say the lack of slug damage is significant evidence they might not be dahlias, assuming slugs had access to the pot. 

Some plants are like governments, in the sense they often appear to be something benign, before revealing their true nature.  For example, Anchusa is a garden plant with bright blue flowers and hairy foliage, while Alkanet is a pernicious weed that looks remarkably similar to it, especially in spring.

Here, whether you consider my suggested ID a 'weed' is less clear-cut. They're not ground elder, but I think they might be small Sambucus, i.e. wee elderberry trees. Only 'might be,' mind. I'd need a 5 part YouTube series to monetise explore all the possibilities. 

 

pink_poppy

I thought elder too, but my plant ID app (PlantNet) said it was 30% likely to be Angelica??

It did identify taff's plant correctly as a Dahlia.

Dustyevsky

pink_poppy said:

I thought elder too, but my plant ID app (PlantNet) said it was 30% likely to be Angelica??

It did identify taff's plant correctly as a Dahlia.

I thought AI would turn up eventually and steal my job! 

I'd not rule out Angelica. What did it say the other 70% was, potentially?