In The Weeds

"A weed is but an unloved flower."
        --- Ella Wilcox

I'm sorry, Ella Wilcox. But I'm afraid I simply can't agree with you there.

Sure.
Some weeds do provide nice enough flowers.
And they are pretty much universally unloved.

But your quote, Ella, implies that we should just . . . love them or something.
And I'm afraid I can't.

I mean . . . I play things pretty fast and loose in my garden. I'm rather haphazard in my approach. Volunteers? Sure! Let's see what they do. Self-seeders? Always welcome in my garden. "Experimental" plantings? I'm up for it. (Except for almost any ground cover. Ground covers are in a category of "weed" all their own . . .) (Just ask anyone trying to rid themselves of, oh . . . Snow-on-the-Mountain, for example.)

But weeds? They are not simply "unloved flowers." Left on their own, a lot of weeds can overtake the "loved flowers" in a garden. They can choke off plants you do want. A lot of the time? The "unloved flowers" are unloved for a reason. (Poison ivy, for example. Or insidious, spreading weeds that have what the garden manuals call "insignificant blooms" so they're not even pretty.)

Lucky for me, I find pulling weeds rather soothing and meditative. (Mostly.) Sometimes, though, like now during the spring-garden-explosion, it can be hard to keep up.

I like this weed-y quote much better . . . 

"Weeds never die."
            --- Danish proverb

That weed right there? It's hairy bittercress. And it is the current Public Enemy #1 in my garden. It's everywhere. And it spreads by shooting amazingly tiny yet powerful seeds in all directions (kind of like fireworks; very impressive) when you barely touch it. I try to get at 'em before they form seeds -- but that window of opportunity lasts about . . . oh, 2 minutes. So I'm often not successful in controlling the seeding.

This one . . . is vetch. As in makes-me-want-to-retch. This one is more charming to look at than the hairy bittercress. The leaves are delicate, and there are will be sweet little pink flowers very soon. (If I let it get that far.) (And I won't.) The problem? It vines and twines everywhere, and will completely cover my garden bed if I give it a chance! (Some misguided neighbors actually planted it just down the street, so the entire neighborhood struggles with it now.) (And don't get me started about my former neighbors who were too cheap to purchase garden plants, and instead chose to allow bind weed -- YES BIND WEED -- to grow as a vine to cover their swimming pool fence. It's like kudzu over there now. I even see it growing over their diving board . . . )

Other garden "favorites"? Various forms of chickweed (from Common to Mouseear) thrive in my garden. I have clover forever (it likes to hitch along in the containers of most nursery plants I bring home, so I'll never rid myself of it). Lots of purple deadnettle. Canada thistle. Henbit. Mugwort.

Lots. Of. Unloved. Flowers.

Anyway.
My weeds keep me busy, all season long. Like the Danish proverb says . . . weeds never die. 

Even though I complain about my weeds . . . I do appreciate their perserverance and ability to adapt. The bees depend on them for nectar - and especially in the spring before the actual "loved flowers" start to bloom. So I make space in my garden for the weeds, too. (Because what other choice do I have???) I try to keep them under control as best I can by pulling them. And I let go of perfection. 

(Except for the poison ivy. And the vetch. And that hairy bittercress.)
(Oh. And that bindweed that creeps under the fence. . . )

"You fight dandelions all weekend, and late Monday afternoon there they are, pert as all get out, in full and gorgeous bloom, pretty as can be, thriving as only dandelions can in the face of adversity."
        --- Hal Borland

Comments

[Vicki]

So many weeds! I battle stuff like Virginia creeper and grapevine, too. So much grapevine in the ravine that finds its way into my yard. Uh. Yeah. Too soon to tell how I'm actually faring in my war with snow-on-the-mountain. The stories of others' battles is enough to make my hair stand on end!

[Margene]

Oh, the bindweed! It is the bane of every garden in our community! It wraps around the corn, the garlic, and any other stemmed plant. It puts down roots so deep it is impossible to totally remove it. It is a Sisyphean task to try. SO, we live with it as well as we can and remove it when we must.

[Vera]

Love the Danish quote - so true!! Fletch does almost all of our gardening, but he has ignored my lilac which has vines of various kinds growing in it. I pulled a bunch just the other day. It is never ending!!

[Dee]

I hear ya! Oh my word the WEEDS!

The clover brings clover MITES .........All over the porch furniture are these red teeny bugs that if you squish them stain everything! UCK!

Then there is the weed with the stickers all down the stem. Try to pull that and you get a nasty surprise. I think it might be the one in your first picture.

I'll never win the battle. I'm just hoping for a stalemate or possibly a truce.

[Carole]

My late mother-in-law used to say "who decreed a weed a weed" and I always said ME. I have SO much chickweed. And clover. And johnson grass. And I have one pesky shoot of bindweed that comes up from UNDER THE DECK every year. Good luck with your battle. As for ground cover, I made the mistake last year of planting a tiny amount of mint in my herb garden area. It chocked out everything else, including my beloved ground phlox. It smells good but it's annoying AF.

[Sarah]

They may be trouble, but they sure do have some fun names! I am already dreading all the weeding I'll have to do in my planting bed once the roofers clear out. I can't even see the dirt because there are so many!

[Mary]

It seems like the dandelions are especially TALL this season. I'm not sure why? smiling at the comments. apparently, your blog readers are most definitely in the camp of calling a weed a weed!