At the very bottom are a few violets which will spread by seed probably more than you want. The main plant looks to be rough-stemmed goldenrod, Solidago rugosa which will spread by seed or by runners. IMO, it's great looking along a road or in an overgrown field, but I'd just as soon not have it in my garden.

(great title by the way)

There are violets everywhere. I ripped out a good chunk, but left that buffer because the retaining wall is falling down and the stone-mason said it would end up about a foot back from where it is now. Figured the violets would be pretty until I get around to having the wall fixed. The (golden rod?) has that big stand that looks intentional, but I keep finding singles in places and ripping those out...even if it is pretty, I'd like to keep it in one place. I guess I'll let it be a little longer. I have one more peony to move in, but need to wait until after it's done flowering to take it from its current location. I just keep finding stuff that looks semi-intentional in totally random places. I think this year is just going to have to be a waiting game, I won't even have the tools to figure out what some of it is until it blooms.