This is the only plant my dog likes to eat in bayview village.Trying to identify it so I can buy seeds and plant it in my garden. Thanks for the help.
Thank you for reaching out to the Toronto Master Gardeners. This is a challenging question especially since your dog likes to eat this plant. Hopefully your dog is still healthy. There is a very slight possibility that this plant is poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), which is highly poisonous to people and pets!
It is always difficult making an identification when one is looking at only one part of the plant — in this case, just the leaves. The best way for us to be sure that what we are looking at is to look at different parts of the plant. v
the plant could also be Queen Anne’s Lace (Cenolophium denudatum). This article highlights the difference between poison hemlocak and queen’s anne’s lace. The major difference between the two becomes obvious when they are flowering. The poison hemlock stem can grow as high as eight to 10 feet, whereas the Queen’s Anne lace grows to just three feet. The stem of the Queen’s Anne is hairy and ribbed. With this differences in mind, you have a better identification, but please note that both species of plants are poisonous to pets (even if the poison hemlock is much more toxic), considered invasive, and both should be avoided.
Other possibilities are Geranium robertianum or Tanacetum parthenium.
If you are looking for plants that are safe and tasty for your dog to eat, the American Kennel Club has this list of plants that can only be grown indoors if you live in Toronto. However, this article from the AKC includes plants that you can grow outside in your garden. They also highlight how important it is not to use pesticides in your garden and to be very careful what fertilizer you use, since these can be poisonous to your pet.
Happy gardening.
If you could send photos of the plant when it is older and flowering we would be able to provide a more definite plant identification