It’s hard for me to type this because this weekend I took out my frustration on my garden (“garden” being a very generous word for my overgrown backyard) and vigorously ripped out weeds, tree roots and also the better part of two fingernails. Turns out that you’re supposed to use gloves.
I pulled out the weeds that don’t flower and kept those that do and I know that’s not the way you’re supposed to do it, but I can’t stop myself.
I leave the dandelions. I protect the morning glories. I ignore the spreading daisies, the buttercups, and the creeping bindweed. I know they will crowd out the asters. I know they wrap tightly around the yellow bells and if given the chance they will strangle the wild roses. But I can’t seem to judge one more worthy of thriving than the other.
I have made my own bed and it is filled with cheerful madness, and pretty, deadly things, and a ticking time-bomb of future floral battles, and angry looks from neighbors and I can’t seem to help myself.
I don’t know if this is something to be proud of, or a symptom of my mental illness…but it’s a very colorful one, at least. The buds that sprout in the cracks of the foundation…the flowers that bloom in spite of it all. They are tenacious and unrelenting in a world that wants them gone…and how can that not be something to learn from?
We should all be that insistent.
We should all be that unapologetically glorious.
Wow. Well said. That hit hard. Thank you!
I think it’s perfect.
*applause* Let your borogroves be all mimsy and your mome raths outgrabbing.
I let flowery weeds grow, too. They keep the soil from eroding, and I don’t need to put any effort into keeping them alive. Except for thistles, they can screw right off.
The weeds can be quite lovely. And in my experience they are much harder to kill.
If we “weeded out” all the ugly, there would be fewer people in the world.
You are absolutely glorious. And I keep the weeds too. 🌻💜
My neighbor mows our lawn without asking, and I GET he’s trying to be nice in his way and I do understand my wife appreciates it because otherwise she ends up dealing with it.
But it’s MY yard and all its wildness and natural chaos; why does everyone else see it as nothing more than a nuisance?
I’ve been a professional gardener for 25 years and I love it when people do what makes them happy in their gardens. If they’re making “mistakes” they can learn for themselves. Or not. Carry on.
(I do generally wear gloves for weed pulling)
You nurture whatever makes YOU happy. Not all weeds are bad, some are toxically beautiful! I love the comments others made too. We’d get along in a plenty kind of way.
Maybe on my really bad days, I’ll try to be unapologetically glorious ❤️
I’m there for everything except that dang bindweed! It is choking everything else in my wilderness of a garden. And there is nothing I can do about it, because the taproots go so deep. It climbs under my siding. It is the bane of my outdoor existence.
Who got to decided what was a “weed,” anyway? I love the dandelions covering my large front yard, at every stage.
I, too, tend to keep the flowering ‘weeds’ and tear out the other stuff…but then I forget that it’s the ‘weeds’ that have DNA for world domination, starting w/my yard…Piece of advice- DON’T plant tansy. I made that mistake and now I’m pretty sure everyone w/in 5 miles of my house has tansy plants. Those f**kers are PROLIFIC!!!! Pretty flowers, though, and they do repel ants.
I stopped ripping out anything that flowered and I’m sure my neighbors hate my garden, but the bees and butterflies love it.
If weeds can’t be arsed being pretty they deserve to be pulled out – look at all the effort dandelions make! (but as someone who never knows what she’ll end up being allergic to next, please try to wear the gloves).
A weed by definition, is a wild plant growing where it is not wanted. So if you want it, it’s really not a weed. 🙂
Ah, yes, bindweed. Spent most of today dealing with it. And by “dealing with” I mean ripping handfuls of it out, while swearing and sweating, and knowing that I’ll be doing it again in a week. If you could smoke it or insulate houses with it or bale it for goat feed I’d be a gazillionaire. Thank goddess for the Canadian winter or my house would be buried.
I don’t wear gloves either.
A big hug to you dear. It looks lovely. I know how things look distorted when we are in a chaotic or depressed state but you are using creativity through writing, drawing and even gardening. I love you dearly, and hope it was helpful to pull out the demons that haunt us. You are such an inspiration to us all. Thank you for sharing such wonderful insights into your life.
This is what my mom learned in her Master Gardener classes: All weeds are flowers, and all flowers are weeds. Or something like that.
I relate to this deeply, I think in my own personal life it’s coz of my BPD, Autism and stuff, tho~
If you want it in your garden, it’s not a weed.
Flowers 🌺🌹 are flowers who decide between a weed or a flower; people do why I love all of them with out discrimination they live like we do some tribe on rich soil like the queen the Rose and some are extremely happy in rough terrain or even the desert life is life no matter what form and I love them so much that I told my children never give me a bouquet 💐 unless they are dried even like this it makes me 😭😢.so I understand and agree 👍💯 percent with you!!!!
Lately I’ve been unapologetically flatulent. Although, if my mother is over, I blame the dog. That woman still believes women don’t have bodily functions.
Weeds are just volunteer plants. It makes deciding what to grow so much simpler!
That read like the first two pages of a novel I now desperately want to read….
You do you and your garden will follow 💖
In Victorian Gardens Queen Anne’s Lace was considered to be a beautiful flower. And as far as I’m concerned it still is. YOU get to say what is a flower and what is a weed in YOUR garden. And in case you don’t know, pineapple sage has gorgeous blooms. May as well put some herbs you can use! P.S. Have you ever picked Queen Anne’s Lace and put it in cups of food color water?
I have never understood the war against dandelions. Your garden sounds beautiful.
A weed is any plant that is growing where you don’t want it to grow. So if you like them, they are not weeds. Wildflower vs weed is all in the eye of the beholder!
Weeds schmeeds. They just want to live and procreate like everything else. Kudos to you for not having a cookie-cutter desert lawn!
Now one teeny thing…as a nurse I’ve seen some terrible hand infections from soil with unfriendly pathogens or mulch splinters. So get yourself some fun gardening gloves!
Love, love, love.
I do the same.
I’m with you. Pretty plants that have demonstrated a will to live are wildflowers in my book. They have more fight than I do, and a wildflower meadow is nicer than a putting green anyway.
Plus our neighbors are VERY chill. We are across from an old cemetery.
You have inspired me! As soon as it isn’t a million degrees out, I will definitely go weed the garden. And cut back the shrubs, and weave in the wisteria, and dig up the elephant ears….haha! Your garden in glorious! and I am jealous. xox
You have described my yard. My gardens are full of happy accidents. If you want to read a crazy book about gardens try The Change. I just finished it I was totally engrossed.
Dandelion greens are not only edible, they’re good for you, as long as you don’t have pesticides on your lawn and you’re not allergic. Besides, they’re lovely to look at in both the yellow and white form. And pollinators love them.
I figure as long as it’s not an invasive plant with no benefit to wildlife, and not one that kills other plants, then it’s okay in my yard.
There’s a house in my neighborhood that put a white picket fence around an unmowed section of their front yard with a sign that says “pollinator garden.”
And another town in my state that left an entire meadow filled with wildflowers and grasses, as it’s a lightning bug sanctuary.
You’re doing a lot more good for our world by letting the wild plants grow than your neighbors with their manicured and toxic lawns.
My husband was weeding the garden (Not my cup of tea…I just give direction in a Supervisory capacity) and was reaching for his next handful when I yelled for him to stop.
~It’s Jimson Weed.
~~Yup. It is.
~It’s poisonous.
~~Yup. It is.
~It’s poisonous, Susan.
~~Yup. But it’s also BEAUTIFUL!
He pulled out a perfectly good and beautiful wildflower anyway.
I just don’t understand that man sometimes.
I try to be mindful of aggressive invasive species for where I live and judge the rest on how they look – dandelions are one of my favorites.
My thing is everyone loves hostas and I’ve never been a fan. Last year my belief that they are “accepted weeds” grew stronger when I found a forgotten hosta laying on its side with roots exposed for at least two weeks during a drought and it was still fine.
I have one word for you: bamboo! My MIL planted it. The neighbors “love” us. 🫣
Amen, Sister! It’s only a weed if it’s out of place. Your gatden, your rules!
I put out thistle seed 15 years ago to feed the goldfinches. My yard is being overtaken by thistles now; I wouldn’t mind if they didn’t stab me. Oh, also not weeds–volunteers.
I know nothing about gardens, flowers, or weeds. Not my thing. But the nerd in me took one look at the picture and thought, “Oh! She has a weeping angel! Don’t blink! Whatever you do, don’t blink.” If you know, you know.
I am so sorry about your fingernails. I actually did something similar just last week, but only destroyed one fingernail. Gloves: use them, stupid – (me, not you.)
I gently pulled the volunteer redbud tree that was growing in a crack of my driveway… planted it bu my mailbox and now it’s 2 stories tall. A weed is only a weed when it’s in the wrong spot. This is also true of people.
I couldn’t agree more! I always leave flowers to grow and do their thing!
Bravo to you for honoring the natural beauty of the dandelions! 💛
During the pandemic I took pictures on my walks of all the flowering weeds. NGL, I was jealous of their beautiful colors, and how they joyfully crowded up together in the tiniest of cracks.
Today’s hip flower is frequently yesterday’s weed. Seems to be that pollinators generally like so-called weeds best anyway.
I have a raucous garden too.
I hear you. And also, anything called ‘dog strangling vine’ is coming out. Sorry, I’m choosing the dog.
“Unapologetically Glorious”
I need that on a pin/ sticker/ stitched on a pillow!
My knowledge of plants is poor. One thing I don’t understand is grass. I’ve read that in olden days yards were often planted in clover. That’s what I want. No or little mowing and nature friendly as far as I know. And wildflowers are welcome too. Enjoy your flowers Jenny!
I’m a watercolor artist and I’ve done a series of paintings of pretty deadly flowers. I’m afraid to show anyone that might use it as a hand book rather than protection guide, which of course I made it for. Really
You are finding beauty in unexpected things… its wonderful and no one should judge you for it! Its your garden. Do what makes you happy! I do!
I need your help Jeannie please my son is bi polar and right now is in the middle of a very bad depression and doesn’t take his meds me and his sisters we live in New York and because the 3 of us worked we can’t go to him his name is Patrick he is 36 years old and doesn’t want me to get involved in his care so I am just asking you to tell me if you can what can we do? He has a therapist but we don’t know if he see him or her he didn’t tell us anything about it.so sorry to bother you thanks you very much.
(I’m sending you so much love. I’m not sure I’m the best person to be asking but I can tell you what I’d probably do based on my own experiences. If you know one of his friends or neighbors you could have them check on him. You can tell him that you love him and that you want to help and ask what he needs. You can ask him for his therapists number and ask him to give his therapist permission to speak to you so you can be more informed. It can get a little dicey to get police involved but often if things get bad they will be willing to do a wellness check to make sure he’s okay. You can also call the crisis hotline and talk to them and ask them for help and advice. They may have a good organization in NY that they can put you in touch with that might be able to help better. Or at least they’ll be able to listen and help talk it out. Living with mental illness and loving someone with mental illness are both hard and I’m glad he has people who love him even from far away. ~ Jenny)
Except for the assholes. THEY should go ahead and give up already because the rest of us are tired of them. Am I terrible that this is always what I think when someone says anything like “never give up” or “fight for what you believe in”? Because I really don’t want EVERYONE to never give up. Just the good guys. Like the pretty flowering ones, even if they’re weeds:)
It’s not mental illness. It’s love and appreciation and not judging, and live and let living, and nature and wildness and chaos and it’s perfect. It’s mental wellness.
Lady Bird Johnson would have agreed with you 100%. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center would agree with you as well. One of the things I miss the most about living in Texas is the wildflowers along the highways. We really only get wildflowers in NV in the event of a super bloom. Though the dandelions do seem to pop up in my dirt back yard every year. The dogs like to munch on them, so I leave them.
In a work-related virtual meeting the icebreaker exercise was “what is your favorite spring flower?” (I work with all women). After many answers of “I like tulips, they have pretty colors” and “I like lilies, they make me think of spring” I blurted out “I like buttercup oxalis, because they grow in the cracks and make the best of whatever soil they have and they make terrible cut flowers and will wilt in one minute flat because they don’t care about your agenda at all and they bloom for themselves, not for your enjoyment” and then there was stunned silence until the host said “ok…I guess we have learned a lot about you today…”
This was beautiful
Rewilding builds soil which is the foundation for life on land. “Weeds” build up organic matter that nourishes the soil that nourishes us all. Be wild, live wild, protect wild.
Around here they call this a pollinator garden. A lot of people put out little decorative signs saying don’t mind the weeds, we’re feeding the bees. It’s all very snooty for people growing milkweed in their front yard. (seriously, if you don’t have milkweed there google it, no chance to be snooty over milkweed)
Beautifully, beautifully written. Only you can take out deep pensive moment out of ordinary chores and write it so on-point yet poetic.
I absolutely adore wild flowers, especially daisies, they thrive in challenging environment like they don’t care. Sandy rocky surface by the ditch by the busy highway? Yep, that’s where we going to stay for the summer. They are just effortlessly awesome. My kids said they smell like toe jam, but hey, no body’s perfect.
I hid a cam in my “effortlessly awesome” garden, and planted a couple berries, and bam! the footage that came out of that became my new fav reality show “Keeping it up with the Chipmunks: berry heist edition”… LOL.. It’s awwwdorable!
My husband, bless his savage heart, find it an absolutely waste of a good piece of land and misuse of his outdoor cam. He hasn’t witnessed the sheer audacity of a chipmunk trying to stuff a blueberry bigger than its head into its cheek pouches or simply take a nap under foliage of wild flowers, and it shows.
This completely normal garden behavior.
I guess I’m going to have to be the voice of native plants here. Bindweed and dandelion are native to Europe and Asia. The reason they are here is because they have an easier time growing because they’ve adapted to a wide variety of growing conditions. They aren’t “struggling to survive” or courageous. They’re the ones that have it easy – stomping out diversity. They’re the Amazon to small bookstores, the Starbucks to the small coffee shops. It’s very poetic and glorious to see the weed flowers, but what kind of message are you sending to the “ugly” weeds that have no flowers? Can there be a poetic but eco-friendly compromise? Grow your pretty weeds in pots and don’t let them go to seed? The native plants, insects, and birds need our help!
Well put!
I love it when I spend 30 minutes creating a reply (as you know, I don’t write too speedy) only to be told upon submitting that “nonce verification unsuccessful” or some such. Now, instead, I’m just going to pose a discussion topic:
Ah, but what about bedstraw/cleavers (Blahdiblahdium blahdidii), i.e. the velcro plant?
My Dad used to say “a weed is just a plant you don’t want”
I want more pictures!!
Hi Jenny, I love this. I would love to share it on my own blog reboot-60.com. It’s just a hobby, no monetary gain, and all credit would be given to you of course. Thanks
So good ❤️
Your garden sounds like a beautiful, chaotic mess! It’s refreshing to see someone embrace the wildness of nature. Your perspective on the tenacity of life is inspiring. Keep nurturing your garden, and may it continue to bring you joy and inspiration.
khalidelarbi
——————————–
خرده
اغانى مهرجانات