I have a hard time calling anything a weed until it proves that it is destructive to the gardens, pets or people. In fact, wildflowers have made their way into the Small Gardens and are about as welcome as any other plants. In fact, it is a well known fact that some have been dug from roadsides, marshes or creek beds to be planted in the gardens. Who in the world would do that? Me! I figure they are happy additions to the gardens as wildflowers add points of interest and they bloom with wild abandon whenever they please. Wildflowers are not particularly bound to any set season like the over-meddled with seeds we plant. This morning as I was out picking broccoli, some gorgeous flowers were the first thing that I noticed in the garden. Daisy Fleabane! Ahh, my good friend, it is grand to see you and I hope the freeze tonight does you no harm. The fleabane was sort of crammed in a nook with some lilies, chives and wood sorrel. Obviously, they all get along well and have no quarrel growing together in the same garden. I have no quarrel with any of them so they all stay.
Daisy Fleabane by most folks' standards is a weed and has no place in their pristine gardens. The plant would be ripped from the ground and destroyed. This is not the smartest thing as these blooms are some of the first to open in the early spring and provide life-giving pollen and nectar for many pollinators. Those very pollinators are the ones that visit our food plots and, without them, our crops will not produce. I smiled when I saw my helpful wildflower friends and had to whisper a "Thanks! Job well done, Little Plant!" Folks, leave a few of the early blooming wildflowers as a gift to our ever-dwindling bee population. Without the bees...we won't be here.
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