An Ode to Weeds

Maybe it's an act of deference. Or defiance. But, yes, I water weeds. North America has so many beautiful flowering weeds (I recently learned that Emily Dickinson cultivated the dandelion) that I think its a shame to obliterate them. Besides, I am a lax gardener - I like a little disorder in the border. My first spring with my own garden was a revelation. We arrived in the month of March and didn't know what was in the yard. By April I learned: Helleboros for one. Peonies for two. Hostos, Lily of the Valley, Dwarf Maple, hyacinth, tulips, azaleas, as well as two very fragrant shrubs with white flowers that smelled like jasmine - but whose identities are still not clear.

Helleboros

There were also the 'weeds': the vigorous white potato vine, a purple flowering weed, a yellow flowering weed, a blue flowering weed, a pink flowering weed, a patch of beautiful moss growing under one tree and some tiny succulents piggybacking on top of that.

These flowers are small, but they do take on a kind of beauty when left to grow in numbers, or when photographed up close. I don't know why I've got such an affection for them. I let the potato vine grow as it pleases and 'speak to it' nicely about leaving the tomatoes and the hydrangeas alone. By and large, it has complied. I let wild grasses come up in my patio boxes, reasoning that their fluffy tufts are like flowers after all...and there is a succulent weed that has come up between the flagstones that I am watching  to see how far it will fan out. 

Maybe I was so starved of vegetation in my first few years here that I am reluctant to pull up anything that brings a little beauty into my world - no matter what the neighbors say. We have 2 full grown pine trees - down from 5, (neighbor on the right complained about the pine cones and needles falling onto her yard). Maybe I am so angry that I bowed to pressure to cut down those 3 evergreens that I am holding onto my weeds with all my might.

Photos: mine - taken in the backyard.