What kind of weed is this?

[Pablo]

Was out in my backyard and I noticed this weed growing out of a pile of dirt. I believe it to be the only one in my backyard and we have a shed load of weeds. I'm in California, it has 8 leaves and 1 giant purple flower.

 

[Pablo]

forgot to upload pic

 

[Beverly]

Looks like Lupine to me, a legume, Fabaceae family.

 

[zigs]

Yep, me too

 

[MaryMary]

Was out in my backyard and I noticed this weed growing out of a pile of dirt.

I guess "weed" is determined by the mind of the owner, but that is a "flower!!" I bought four of them last year to put in my flower bed, and am eagerly awaiting spring to see if they come back!! (I do so much better with plants grown from seed, I hesitate to buy plants.)

and we have a shed load of weeds.

Pablo, I feel your pain.

 

[Larisa]

bought four of them last year

Hooray! At first I thought it was a cultivated plant seulement in Russia. I deliberately planting colorful lupins in the garden too. By the way, it looks cute. And after flowering it can be buried in the ground. For nitrogen.

 

[zigs]

Lupins are popular in England too

 

[Chuck]

Lupins are popular in England too

And the state flower (blue bonnet) of Texas

 

[Larisa]

Haha, funny!
But to be honest, when I first planted lupins, it looked cute. But after 3 years it grew in different places of the garden.

I just do not want to mow when it blooms. Then its seeds scattered throughout the garden. Now I know what to do. I will be handing out bouquets. I just need to learn the words of the song.

 

[Beverly]

There are even tropical lupines. A couple of years ago i ordered six or seven packets of lupine seeds and sowed them in various parts of the garden. I just sort of had a lupine fit. I was so excited, and i even found a volunteer wild lupine. So many seedlings came up. They were all eaten by slugs. Not one lupine survived. It was so sad, then i got some copper tubing and also some DE to protect the flowers from slugs and ants but haven't had the heart to try to grow lupines again.

 

[Pablo]

Thanks everyone for replying. I kinda forgot about this post lol. Does anyone have an idea on how it ended up in my backyard? I sure as hell didn't plant any seeds. I am totally planning on moving it into a pot.

 

[MaryMary]

Does anyone have an idea on how it ended up in my backyard?

Do any of your neighbors have them? I found this:

There are several methods plants use to fling their seeds out of the seedpod. All of them rely on the effect of evaporation of water in the seedpod, so this method of seed dispersal usually takes place in the sun. It is one of the favourite methods used by members of the Papilionaceae (formerly Leguminosae). If you walk over heathland near Gorse bushes on a hot sunny day, you can hear the explosions of the seedpods as they burst open and send their seeds out. Lupins, too, have a similar system. The side of the seedpod facing the sun dries out more quickly than the side in the shade, causing the pod to buckle and pop open. The seedpods then curl up like animal horns, sending the seeds flying. http://theseedsite.co.uk/sdforce.html

I also learned that they don't bloom their first year, so it's been in your yard at least two years. And aphids love them, so keep an eye on them!!

 

[Beverly]

A bird could have left it for you

 

[Pablo]

Do any of your neighbors have them? I found this:
I also learned that they don't bloom their first year, so it's been in your yard at least two years. And aphids love them, so keep an eye on them!!

It is growing out of a hill that my sister made a few months ago to use as a bicycle ramp. Maybe it was here for awhile but finally got moved up onto the surface when she rearranged the dirt? The hill is in the middle of our backyard and I don't know if the seed could have flew from any of our neighbors backyard onto it lol. I don't think they have any either. I'll look for more

 

[roadrunner]

I think a lot of people get some very neat plants in their yard (who knows how...), but rarely see them, because they get mowed over. Much of my yard is now mulched over and so what little small grassy sections I have remaining, I look for things other than grass and replant them into my mulchy areas.

I've found some very neat things, such as Pink Rain Lilies (now I have tons of flowering lilies that look much like a genuine woodland area under my live oak and southern magnolia trees) and recently I'm finding these wild petunias that have a neat little flower that look good in my mulchy areas: