"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." — E.B. White

Monday, August 9, 2010

Weeds pt II (AKA more weeds!)



Okay here we go again, weeds, weeds, n more weeds!
I garden organically, don't water our lawns and prefer to let nature run it's course.
Most of the time.
I took these weed pics around my backyard.
At least they're purdy...
With our current drought they look better than most of my perennials!
knapweed or centaurea maculosa

Daisy fleabane

wild carrot or Queen Anne's Lace

red clover



To quote Ralph Waldo Emerson; "What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered."


But did you know that it is illegal to allow some weeds?


Maryland's Department of Agriculture site says:
The WEED CONTROL PROGRAM enforces the Maryland Weed Control Law and assists farmers or landowners in the battle against the designated noxious weeds Johnsongrass, shattercane and thistles. The law requires landowners to manage noxious weeds on all types of land. 

The following picture of thistle is off their site (which, BTW has terrible pics). Of course WE wouldn't have any illegal weeds I could photograph, right? ;-)


 Homeowners too should not encourage many plants - even tho they are pretty some plants in the wrong environment can run wild and displace native plants and thus damage habitats. 

Did you know that butterfly bushes are on the noxious weed list in Oregon? Euonymus (burning bush) is on the noxious weed list in many New England states? Ditto yellow flag iris and damesrocket... I have all of these on my MD farm!

It's well worth visiting invasive.org to learn more. Each state has it's own problem plants so check your state Ag dept also.
chicory

Here's another helpful site to identify weeds or "wildflowers" ;-)  http://www.ppws.vt.edu/weedindex.htm
Happy gardening!

8 comments:

Lori O'Brien Photography said...

What a beautiful crop O'weeds.

Vintage Country Girl said...

Wish my weeds looked that good! We don't spray our either, and my back can testify to all the hours pulling them out!

Janean said...

yep, one man's weeds....

my mom hated geraniums because in California where she was raised, they considered them weeds. i, on the other hand, pay good money for geraniums each year and adore the smell-look! LOL

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

I love taking my kids to identify flowers...and yes, many that I grew up knowing as weeds are now desirable...everything comes back in style kinda thing. If we took the name weeds away we would probably enjoy a lot more of nature...the pictures are great!!!

The Single Nester said...

I gotta tell ya, my dad is amazing at gardening. Me? I can't tell the difference between a weed and a "real" plant. Thanks for the link.

Jayme Goffin, The Coop Keeper said...

I love weeds and so do my bees! I don't like them where I don't want them though. That's the problem, eh? I have a lot of noxious, illegal weeds in my yard.

Florence said...

Love those weeds they are so beautiful. Thanks for coming to visit me.

myletterstoemily said...

what a delightful blog with such interesting
information. your quote about weeds made
me smile.

i recently heard about illegal weeds in
colorado and now here, too.

love,
lea