A weed is just a plant growing in a place you don't want it. An oak tree is a weed if it's too close to the house. So what Weeds to you actually like to find in your garden? For me Mullien tops the list. Also wild morning glories, an occasional russian thistle {but I never let it go to seed}, mushrooms, and Queen Anne's Lace.
wood sorrel; it gives such a pretty red/brown contrast to all the green around it. I let it grow when it pops up in my flower gardens. jewel weed; the sap is useful if you get into nettles or poison ivy. I think the flowers are pretty. milkweed; I like the flowers and as a kid I was fascinated by the fuzz and seeds inside the pods. Monarchs like them too so that is another good reason to let them grow. dandelions; one of the first flowers of spring and the young leaves are good in salads. A big area of danelions all in bloom cheers me up. Can you tell I do not have a picture perfect yard or gardens? The randomness of nature is much more pleasing to me. Oh yeah, and puffballs and shelf fungi are cool too.
Not a garden expert...BUT...all of them except Ragwort and other aggresively nasty individuals out to cause harm...(deadly nightshade..?..even so they have their place...as all things do...) TOPS has to be DANDELION. You can eat it, make wine with it, burdock it, cover bare patches with it, feed your rabbit with it..........Heard you can even make a sort of coffee with it... SECOND is DAISIES. (Day's eyes) Old naturalist friend said once, "I know spring is here when i can put my foot over 5 daisies" THIRD is WILD CORNFLOWER. They have saved my garden and look lovely.... PS: Saw a documentary on "Prince" Charle's place....WOW, gardening by moonlight, complete organic and nature entwined...that is A GARDEN...(all 3000 or whatever acres of it....not to be looked up to...but...to be made REALITY....the whole world over..AWESOME...
Plantain is one of my favorites. Great lil herb for healing wounds, and it grows everywhere!....... well except in my backyard, not even dandelions or cloves grow here thanks to my landlord! Valerie
Milkweed growing in my garden right now. Plantain, we used to call "Lie-detecter Plant" when I was a kid. Hold the leaf firmly between the thumb and forefinger of each hand -- pull sharply both ways. The leaf will split in half, and if you have told a lie, it will leave a green string hanging from one end of the leaf. The longer the string, the bigger the lie. Sometimes there might have only been 2 or 3 little lies.
Well i have to say you're a lot more loving than me. I really do not like poison ivy at all, and I'm not really much in favor of creeping charlie or deadly night-shade. Though I guess I don't hate box elder trees, stinging needles, virginia creeper, honeysuckle bushes, or ragweed, I would hardly say i love them either. And there's a really large group of plants that I have ambiguous feelings about, including: sagebrush, grease weed, kentucky blue grass, purslane, catalpa trees and red cedar. Mostly I consider all of the above weeds wherever they show up anywhere near me.
When we bought this land 3 years ago it was all wooded and the poison ivy was everywhere, some of it was so old it was actually as big around as rope and it grows up the trees looking like the vines from an old Tarzan movie. Larry had to take the ax to it and now we have these old dead ropes hanging around. I am constantly fighting it and have gotten rid of 99% of it around the house. The best way is by pulling it up and no matter how careful i am I always manage to get a bit on me. Yes I discovered the jewel weed growing abundently around here...isn't it nice that what we need is here for us?? These are so many things that grows wild and crazy here in Southern Ohio,some people view them as invasive weeds,I love them, and here is a list of them on my land (or what I have seen so far): Honeysuckle Wild raspberries and blackberries, we have a barrier of tremendous amounts between our land and the road. Black eyed susan, all over my yard Day lillies, there is a 6 foot wide area along the road down aways ans I went and moved some to my yard. wild delphinium jewel weed Joe Pye weed Angelica daisies wild corn flower, some in my yard, but tons along the roads wild coneflower may apples wild phlox, I moved a bunch to my yard from along the road wild columbine milkweed sassafras,we had to take out a bunch, but left what was already over 5 feet rugosa rose Queen anns lace is nutty in my yard Of course I do have my share of dandy lions, I pull them in my beds and in the veggie garden but leave them alone in our meadow. And Hippie toad....I miss alot of things about NC but the sandspurs are NOT one of them...lol teepi
Well I recognised some of the flower names, I am an English gardener, and it has brought a smile to my face to hear that Teepi has rampant black eyed Susan growing all over her yard. Here a medium size pot of black eyed Susan would set you back about ten pounds as it would be greenhouse grown - we just don't get long or hot enough summers for it I guess. I only have a really small back yard, but I also have taken on an allotment on a patch of common land behind my house. It was overgrown with weeds, we have cleared half, but a lot of space is now taken with my re-groupings of weeds I love. My favourite weeds on my allotment are: English marigolds love in a mist ( this is everywhere and it is so pretty) candytuft achillea evening primrose In my small back yard I also allow Herb Robert ( a tiny wild geranium) Heartsease Scarlet Pimpernel Moon Daisy Mullein But I could be over run with dandelions if I allowed it to happen......
Dandilions are my favorite flower! even though its not really a flower its a weed... i still think they are nice. i used to make wreaths for my hair when i was stuck in the outfield during my little league days. peace
i remember!!!!! oh, old softball days. we sucked so bad . . . .but we were the best team no dout about it. ruby, and the cutters dandilions are definatly my fav too. but i like to EAT them oh yeah . . so good, and very good for you too oh and the indain paint brushes. those are so nice and they grow like weeds when i was younger i use to love milkweed. . . .i would fluff up al the white shit and fill little cloth bags with it like a big pillow. now that i think about it thats probly why i always had allergies so bad back then huh?
oh i rememeber! us and the wentworths were so into sewing. you and auty always made the little bags full of milkweed. they seemed like a really cool idea! i still love picking dandelions and putting them around my car and in vases in the house. no wonder why my allergies are so bad this year. oh yeah, and your sunflowers are my favorite too. the ones i brought here are doing lovely!
My favorite weeds are. Wild roses and brambles. I used to grow up near a meadow which had these. Brambles and Roses have thorns on them. They give a sense of a fortress. In the autumn brambles have the added bonus of blackberries. I used to pick these by the hundreds. Brambles do have one drawback. They grow incredibly quickly. Matt
I am a lover of wildflowers, so you can be sure that I like more things than can be listed. My life is plants and I want to get a job as a gardener. But among my favorites are Chicory, Morning Glories that grow wild along the road (not the same as Wild Morning Glories), Scarlet Pimpernel, Common Mallow, Creeping Wood Sorrel, Blue-Eyed Grass, Corn Speedwell, Asiatic Dayflower, Jewelweed, Butter and Eggs, Celandine, Wild Columbines, and many many more.
It's great when I find an unknown plant growing, figuring since it's there, it should grow. Then then the reward for letting it stay is the plant showing off a nice flower for us to enjoy! I haven't found too many plants I consider weeds since they all have their own unique beautiful style if you just get up close on it and admire the shape of the leaves and such and the shelter/food it has provided for certain interesting insects.
