Near where the Rudbeckia ‘Irish Eyes’ performed so poorly this year, I spotted a pretty bit of yellow in the garden.

Thinking I had overlooked a rudbeckia stalk or two when cleaning up that area a few weeks ago, I optimistically went out to investigate. To my dismay I immediately recognized the beautiful golden yellow flower was not ‘Irish Eyes’ at all.

Swamp Sunflower. It was swamp sunflower again.  A tall perennial that grows along roadsides, I innocently accepted one from a friend at a plant exchange possibly eight years ago.

Soon I learned that under the right conditions, swamp sunflower can spread by underground rhizomes and be potentially invasive. This perennial sunflower quickly became much too happy in the garden, so I have been pulling it out for years.

It does have a pretty flower though. A few days. I will give it just a few days.