Dreaming of... Weeds?

Since the ground is covered with inches of snow, I'm already dreaming of spring. With spring comes the beautiful wildflowers and green, green grass. Within grass covered lawns comes those plants that many people refer to as “weeds.” I have been telling one of my relatives for years - and she continues to just laugh at me as she pays her bill for yard-treatment – that weeds are just misplaced wildflowers. After all, dandelions,violets, and mints are in the Newcomb's Wildflower Guide I had to use in my plant biology class in college.

For some reason, the most hated weed seems to be the bright yellow dandelion. Why do we hate the dandelion so much? It's a brighter yellow than those tulips and daffodils that we ooh and ah over every spring. And we pay to plant those beauties! And look at the flower of the dandelion? Does it really look that much different from a distance than those marigolds so many people plant every year? And after paying to buy those plants, then spending the time to plant them, watering them, “weeding” the flower beds... Now, that nice dandelion doesn't require any cost to plant or any time to maintain!

Then if you look closely at your yard you might find some violets. My grandma used to dig those up and transplant them to her flower bed. After all, do they really look that different from the impatiens and violas that we buy? And look at the variety of violets you have free in your yard! You might even find some white violets. Try to explain that to your three year old!

And if you look really closely, you'll see a small purple plant, the flower looks like a horn. The leaf is scalloped. Feel the stem. It feels like a square. Know what that means? It's part of the mint family.

Maybe instead of “taking time to smell the roses” we need to take the time to count the violets or feel the mints or take the time to make a dandelion bracelet. It'd be better for the environment and our health if we accepted these misplaced wildflowers. I mean, who wants to go out and play ball in the yard with the kids if you're having all those chemicals sprayed on the yard? Who wants Bowser or Furrball to lick their paws after walking across the lawn? Is a wildflower-less lawn really worth it?