Daisy Fleabane...The Welcome Friend

   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.

Lantana Lane?

   The "Critter Neighborhood Watch Clan" was causing yet another uproar on the north side of the house.  While I do not mind snakes being around the place, they need to be a bit less conspicuous!  (Not really)  Let one bird spy a snake and every bird in the county joins in a squawk-fest.  I decided to check out what the birds found and see if I needed to do another snake relocation.  Thankfully, it was just a small black racer that was trying its best to escape from the bird noise.  While there, I noticed that the Lantanas were in full bloom.  These are not ones I have planted in the yard but rather some random shrubs that insist on popping up in the oddest places.  I usually let them grow where they wish and just enjoy the blooms.  These were blooming all along the side of the lane making the driveway quite pretty!

  The sight of the Lantanas brought back many memories of my childhood.  Back then, every yard had the bushes growing next to their front porches.  Porches were usually painted white and the bright blooms stood out beautifully.  Very, very few folks ever called them Lantanas, however.  It was almost a rule that the bush was labeled either "Ham and Eggs" or "Butter and Eggs" depending on the color of the blooms.  If a cluster was more yellow, it was "Butter and Eggs" but let those pink buds show up and the bush had the proper name of "Ham and Eggs".  Folks, thought a lot about food back then, I guess.  I never, ever remember anyone calling the shrubs Lantanas.  To this day, if someone asks, I usually blurt out Ham and Eggs.  (I do get a lot of funny looks!)

  Just recently, I found out that the Ham and Egg name is accurate, to some extent.  There is a cultivar of lantana actually named that!  The Butter and Egg name is now attached to a invasive weed in some parts of the country.  Now that the name thing is settled, it is probably good to note that both of these plants have some good points and some bad.  Lantanas repel bugs but are toxic to humans and most animals.  Don't go eating them.  The Butter and Egg plant is used in some folk medicine but can cause major medical problems if used incorrectly.  Best leave that one alone, too.  Perhaps it is better to just enjoy the beauty of the blooms and not dine upon either of the plants.