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RobinM
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Location: South Carolina Zone 8

Any idea what this wild thing is?

Does anyone know what this is? It has started growing wild at the edge of my woods line. I thought it might be Ajuga but after googling some pics of ajuga, I don't think it's the same thing.
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applestar
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How big are those leaves? I have two plants with similar veining (but not sure if yours is either of them).

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ElizabethB
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DITTO - Applestar - could you maybe place a quarter next to the plant for a scale reference?

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RobinM
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Maybe 3.5" or 4" in length. They seem to start out more purple and then gain more green as they grow, at least that's the way it seems to be. I'll have to pay more attention and see if I can nail that down as either fact or fiction :)

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RobinM
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I can do the quarter idea. I'm at the office now but when I get home this evening, I can do that and take another picture.

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RobinM
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In the meantime, here's a few more pics that I took at the same time as the other one. I'll check back this evening and post a pic with the quarter. Thanks ladies!
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WF2.JPG
WF1.JPG

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RobinM
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Ok here's a few more pics with a quarter. One of these have some kind of flower bud on it.
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RobinM
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Looks like only one pic uploaded. Here's the other...
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applestar
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OK, so in the initial photos, all the leaves looked oval or shield shaped, but there was one blurry one that looked like it could be differently shaped. In these new photos, I see a lot more variation in leaf shapes. So it could very well be that these are Lyre-leaf Sage.

If so, they will send up flower stalks and bloom like this. In this picture, these are nearing the end of the flower cycle so not as showy as they could be, but I think if you zoom in, you can see some of the leaves with the maroon markings. They were darker purple and maroon when it was cooler.
image.jpg
Oh, here's a photo of the flowers at peak -- this was taken with an old iPod so not as high quality:
image.jpg

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RobinM
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Ah! Nice! I knew they were more than some scraggly old weed :). I have a lot of projects going on right now and one of those is a garden path through my woods. I have wild ferns and all kinds of wild stuff. This would make a nice addition. I'll have to learn a little about them. Thank you so much for your help!



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