Weed of the Year award

It seems that some years of gardening a weed shows up that I've never seen before. Some, of course, are like old friends, familiar and persistent, and I relish the kinetics of accessing their roots and pulling them out. Others just show up, strangers in town, often pretending to be garden plants. Hmmmm. This years' winner of the Weed of the Year Award (WOTYA) goes to this fella:

​He's been around all season, persistent and ubiquitous, and though I don't know his name, I feel it's appropriate to give him the honor this year.

​ I know I didn't plant him, so he's a weed. Maybe.

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I'm riddled with doubts because I found this doppelgänger in the flower bed under the bird feeder two days ago. This is an area planted with a scattering of flower seeds--anonymous seeds impossible to ID until the flowers bloom. I scrunched up my face and declared out loud, "That's not the same thing, is it?"

Yes.

No.                      Yes?

Could it be?

There are so many similarities, right down to the bug nibbles. The greenery is quite lovely in the flower garden. It would be so nice if it turned out to have decent flowers. But, if so, have I been pulling out as a weed all season long what might have been a great plant for my garden ?  Or, if not, am I allowing this weed to flourish in the flower bed in mockery of its other inhabitants?

So I wait. It's just one of those garden things, where you must wait for the truth to out. Like the wheat and the tares.

In the meantime, to honor the stranger in my garden, that often presents itself as lovely greenery, I present the First Annual Weed of the Year Award.
​No monetary prize involved.

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