Perhaps Tragopogon dubius Yellow Salsify?

Well I'll be a newt's pyjamas......

That's EXACTLY what it looks like. And the flowerhead-part and leaves are spot-on too. So it looks like I have a salsify/oyster plant in a pot.

Which leads to my next question: who snuck into my garden and planted this thing? It looks like a parsnip (I hate parsnips) and I'd remember the name.

Hmmm...I wonder if it's a perennial and actually makes flowers, too. Time for a little googling.

THANKS, Crazy and Abgardeneer! :-D

My husband threatned our neighbour with palting a dandelion in the night on her 40,000 sq ft of new sod. (Yes, a whole acre.)
Maybe you live near us?

Good to know! I have those too. I let them grow, thinking I'd discovered some wonderful new flower.
THey are very invasive and the roots are a killer to pull out.
Yuck,

Cheryl

*L* Sharon, if you can FIND the lawn amongst the dandelions, volunteer seedlings (I have a lot of fruit trees) and general chaos....you're a better man than I! ;0)

You know, I have a neighbor across the street (we both have huge corner lots), and he mows the lawn every Saturday, 10 a.m., Moving from NW to SE in perfect rows. It looks like a carpet, not a lawn. I don't have anything agains lawns in general (unless you waste a lot of water on them), but really...we're firmly into the land of OCD, I think.

Cheryl, I don't mind the plant (yet), but how the heck did it GET there? I don't think they're wild here in central Alberta (zone 3a), but maybe a passing bird makes a liar out of me? Hmmmm....

Still a pretty giant puff, though. And still marvellously whole through the use of that common bio-hazard, won't-move-in-a-wind-tunnel chemical: hairspray.

Salsify is not native to Alberta, it was introduced from Eurasia. I live in Central Alberta too and it surely does grow here, take a drive out in the country, you'll see it gowing along roadsides and pastures.

How did it get in your pot/garden....the seeds are attached to those "parachutes" which are disseminated widely by the wind.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blowing In The Wind