I would say it is your echinacea.

This picture is one I took a few minutes ago of my double decker echinacea. Notice the similarity of the leaves of yours to mine.

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Brenda

It looks like my prima donna echinacea I started earlier this year..the leaves on mine aren't as serrated but the veining on the leaves looks the same..as soon as my camera batteries charge up I will take a picture..savona

Whoo-hoo! I'm definately glad I didn't rip it out! :)

Ang

These are my echinacea Prima Donna Rose..savona
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I'm pretty sure it's a weed. I did the same thing last year and it wasn't echinacea, but I never figured out what it was! It does look similar to echinacea, but if you look carefully the leaves on the wees are turned under a bit on the end and Echinacea are cupped up if that makes sense. And the weed leaves are a bit softer than echinacea. Leave it if you like, but it is hard to pull out when you want to- and I got a bunch more this year! =)

Once it matures and flowers Ang should know if it is or is not an echinacea. If it is not and it is a weed and it is as hard to pull out as you mentioned it could be...just use roundup then to kill it.

Brenda (who has spot killed a lot of plants this year already with roundup on our acreage)

I also believe it is a weed. I have tons of that stuff growing in the north west corner of my yard and I spend all summer yanking it out. It seems to sprout overnight. Echinacea leaves are smooth and those are sort of fuzzy feeling.

Danni

Thanks... I will be removing it shortly! I just noticed some along the edge of the sidewalk last night and I compared the leaves. Yup, the same. Oh well, it was a nice thought that it could be my returning echinacea ;)

Ang