Coltsfoot?

Ah, those cute moundy plants with the bright yellow flowers which are everywhere now! I actually like them and have them in my garden. They will disappear soon, only to return next spring...They are often mistakenly thought to be Marsh Marigold but they are not such.
They are:
Ranunculus ficaria L.
Fig buttercup

Here is a link that might be useful: Fig Buttercup Image and Info

My first thought was winter aconite, Eranthis hyemalis but that may be finished blooming by now.

Kristi

buttercups

as a kid, we would pick them and put them under a friend's chin. if it shined yellow, you loved butter. sweet, simple childhood memories.

maryanne

Here is a link that might be useful: buttercups

If you are refering to the plant that dicentra posted, be aware it is considered a noxious weed and is listed as an ecolgical threat. I spend considerable time ane effort each spring trying to eradicate this monster from my gardens and the woods behiind my house.

http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/rafi1.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: Noxious weeds in PA

I thought they were cute and brought a little sprig home to plant in the yard. I got scared the next spring when it started popping up everywhere and then it took me four years to get rid of it....

It does put on an amazing show. I remember seeing pink saucer magnolias in full bloom surrounded by a sea of these bright yellow flowers. Then I listened to someone complaining how they turn to mush after blooming and you couldn't mow the lawn because the mower would slide all over on the slime.

ps: they are a different plant than the regular buttercups that grow in meadows and lawn.

Those insidious little buttercup weeds plague me every year. I'm finally making some progress in eradicating them from one garden, but they're trying to take over another one now. And they're all over the yard, too. Aaaargh! What I've been told to do is pull them up by the roots and then use RoundUp on the hole. It's slow going, but it does help.

I love those little yellow flowers, and remember asking a landscape architect friend what they were the first time I saw them blanketing a stream bank nearby. I was so upset to learn they were a noxious weed! It seems like every plant I like is "noxious".

I know what you mean Carol. When I see a field of purple loosestrife I still think it looks nice even though I believe it is banned in most states.

Hi if you are talking about the ones along side most rural road ways this time of year they are colts foot. They are a short in highth with a bright yellow flower the size of a quater or alittle smaller. The stems have a scale like appearence and they seem to have no visible leaves with the flowers. The flowers will soon die off and be replaced by very large pumkin or squash looking leaves. The perfure shade and semi most soil and are comonly found in ditches and roadsides.

Ah, yes--- it IS the dreaded fig buttercup! Well, I am a strickly native gardener, so I will tell my friend that this plant is out of the question. She is looking for a deer-resistant groundcover, flowers are a bonus... Any suggestions? Maybe I should start a new thread... perhaps in the native plants forum. Thank you all for your responses.

They are particularly omnipresent along the Brandywine River between Downingtown and West Chester right now. Most survived the flooding rains we had last week and it's easy to see how aggressively it spreads.