Thank you soooo much for this post. I clicked on the link and found a photo of what I thought was a wildflower. Turns out it's a weed.
My friend and I dug up a bunch from along side the road a few hours ago. We think they look like iris's. This is a series of coincidences that doesn't happen that often. Thanks again.
This plant is not on the invasive plant list. Who is to say if it is a "weed" or a wildflower? English is the only language with a word for weed. Other languages simply refer to a plant as useful or not useful.
in fact, as a professional linguist, i can assure you that every indo-european language has a word for weed, and it means EXACTLY what it means in good old english.
you're welcome, tho, to come to my garden and take some 'cuttings' of my dayflower. bring a wheelbarrow.
I, for one, am glad to know it is a weed--my daughter insists that they are her pretty blue flowers but they take over the entire front of the house--begone, I say! Maybe if I can get them before they bloom she will not notice!
How can you hate something so blue... like sky in the garden? I am just so happy to have anything that will flower without pampering; I love weeds, in the right places!
Dear Anonymous: The Spanish language also has a name for weeds (yerba)...not a crucial detail, but South Americans also dislike weeds and do have a name for them. It is not only Americans who dislike weeds, and whether others call them so or not, I find does not make people like plants that take nutrients other plants need to thrive any better.
I do, however, appreciate the beauty of many weeds, but I don't think that is what we, as gardeners, debate. I believe, if you plant and care for a specimen just to let something else (pretty as it may be) come and take over it would make you crazy too. In the words of Michael Pollan: "Go ahead and enjoy the pretty flowers. And starve." I feel farmers will sympathize with his view too.
Hi, this is a couple years too late I suppose, but I wanted to chime in: The concept of "weed" is a cultural one, just like "vermin". "weed" means any undesirable vegetation, just like "vermin" means any undesirable animal.
That being said, whether this dayflower is a weed or not is based on how you choose to value the world around you.
For instance, if you value free food, then this dayflower is not a "weed" but a quick growing salad green. I got out my Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants this morning and finally decided to figure out if this little plat was edible, and sure enough, it is.
From the Guide: Young leaves and stems can be added fresh to salads, or boiled for 10 min. and served with butter.
That's not to say that you should let it take over your yard though. If your Tomato garden suddenly took over your yard, of course you'd thin it out, transplant, and even start composting perfectly good tomato plants...but the fact that an edible vegetable grows prolifically shouldn't automatically place it in the "weed" category...
I agree with central Fla gardener I work in Native plant restoration landscapes in south florida and it is so invasive as it overwhelms native and rare endangered plants easily... Whole heartedly agree with the wheelbarrow reference.. made me laugh cause its true
i love this little blue flowering plant. my house is in the city with a cliff as a back-yard & no front yard (my small covered front porch abuts against the concrete sidewalk so it's a few feet away from the asphalt road). i don't have time to "garden" in pots so i put out huge pots on the sidewalk & have found that the only plants that grow without any attention are Rose of Sharon, a volunteer purple morning glory vine, Sumac tree, hosta, sedum, & these little blue dayflowers. i appreciate anything that's beautiful & hardy enough to live in my sidewalk pots without any attention or care ;)
9 comments:
Thank you soooo much for this post. I clicked on the link and found a photo of what I thought was a wildflower. Turns out it's a weed.
My friend and I dug up a bunch from along side the road a few hours ago. We think they look like iris's. This is a series of coincidences that doesn't happen that often. Thanks again.
This plant is not on the invasive plant list. Who is to say if it is a "weed" or a wildflower? English is the only language with a word for weed. Other languages simply refer to a plant as useful or not useful.
in fact, as a professional linguist, i can assure you that every indo-european language has a word for weed, and it means EXACTLY what it means in good old english.
you're welcome, tho, to come to my garden and take some 'cuttings' of my dayflower. bring a wheelbarrow.
I, for one, am glad to know it is a weed--my daughter insists that they are her pretty blue flowers but they take over the entire front of the house--begone, I say! Maybe if I can get them before they bloom she will not notice!
How can you hate something so blue... like sky in the garden? I am just so happy to have anything that will flower without pampering; I love weeds, in the right places!
Dear Anonymous: The Spanish language also has a name for weeds (yerba)...not a crucial detail, but South Americans also dislike weeds and do have a name for them.
It is not only Americans who dislike weeds, and whether others call them so or not, I find does not make people like plants that take nutrients other plants need to thrive any better.
I do, however, appreciate the beauty of many weeds, but I don't think that is what we, as gardeners, debate. I believe, if you plant and care for a specimen just to let something else (pretty as it may be) come and take over it would make you crazy too. In the words of Michael Pollan: "Go ahead and enjoy the pretty flowers. And starve." I feel farmers will sympathize with his view too.
Hi, this is a couple years too late I suppose, but I wanted to chime in: The concept of "weed" is a cultural one, just like "vermin". "weed" means any undesirable vegetation, just like "vermin" means any undesirable animal.
That being said, whether this dayflower is a weed or not is based on how you choose to value the world around you.
For instance, if you value free food, then this dayflower is not a "weed" but a quick growing salad green. I got out my Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants this morning and finally decided to figure out if this little plat was edible, and sure enough, it is.
From the Guide: Young leaves and stems can be added fresh to salads, or boiled for 10 min. and served with butter.
That's not to say that you should let it take over your yard though. If your Tomato garden suddenly took over your yard, of course you'd thin it out, transplant, and even start composting perfectly good tomato plants...but the fact that an edible vegetable grows prolifically shouldn't automatically place it in the "weed" category...
Unless you don't value free edible vegetables.
I agree with central Fla gardener I work in Native plant restoration landscapes in south florida and it is so invasive as it overwhelms native and rare endangered plants easily... Whole heartedly agree with the wheelbarrow reference.. made me laugh cause its true
i love this little blue flowering plant. my house is in the city with a cliff as a back-yard & no front yard (my small covered front porch abuts against the concrete sidewalk so it's a few feet away from the asphalt road). i don't have time to "garden" in pots so i put out huge pots on the sidewalk & have found that the only plants that grow without any attention are Rose of Sharon, a volunteer purple morning glory vine, Sumac tree, hosta, sedum, & these little blue dayflowers. i appreciate anything that's beautiful & hardy enough to live in my sidewalk pots without any attention or care ;)
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