I don't know what it is but I'd get rid of it before it dumps a trizillion seeds!

That is a very good suggestion.

I got ahold of a book of Alberta weeds today, and the closest thing I can find is Artemesia vulgaris.

I think you are on the right track. I have a very similar weed, which is an Artemesia but I forget the last name. It is commonly called Biennial Wormweed or Wormwood. Mine doesn't normally have as many or such large leaves coming out of the seed stalk, but otherwise looks identical.

The plant carries a distinctive scent, although I find it hard to describe. Maybe some elements of marigolds and some of sagebrush.

It grows on disturbed ground. It germinates in the fall and forms a rosette, then takes off in the spring, usually looking like nothing more than a pin head in the spring when it starts to grow. It will also germinate during the growing season and grow, but just forms a rosette until the next year.

You can control it easily in the fall with tillage or herbicides. In the early spring, tillage will also work easily, but herbicides rapidly lose effectiveness as it gets bigger although glyphosate will continue to work. Pulling a plant of the size you've got will be difficult unless the soil is very wet. The lower stem will be like wood.

Yes! That's the one. Artimisia biennis, as we say in Latin :)

Thanks for the warning about the root. It put up a fair fight but I think I got it all.

Thanks for your help.

don

This post is ten years old. But fwiw the photos do not show ragweed. They show an Artemisia, not Ambrosia.