Heroes and Villains

Prolific plants can be boon -- or bane
By Erle Nickel
Contra Costa Times correspondent

When gardeners hear the word "weed," whether used as a noun or a verb, they're not likely to think "Oh, boy!" Weeding can be time-consuming and backbreaking, and then there's the fact that weeding is all too often a recurring activity. But hold on. Could it be true what that wise philosopher once said, that a weed is only a weed when you don't want it growing in your garden? The tipping point it seems is whether the phrase "self seeds" on a plant sign is greeted with enthusiasm or horror. Read more>

Good weeds, bad weeds

By Erle Nickel
for the Mercury News

A philosopher once said that a weed is only a weed when you don't want it growing in your garden. That pretty much covers all of those pesky plants, right? Not so fast. Some species have blooms or foliage so pretty that you might want to plant these self-seeders in your garden, or allow a species that just seemed to blow into your yard to stay. The trick is separating the good weeds from the bad ones. Here, from my eclectic garden experience, is my list of heroes, the "weeds" you want in your garden, and villains, those that you most certainly don't. Read more>

Proud of her work-free patio garden :: The SouthtownStar :: Lifestyles

"I love fresh, home grown ingredients when I cook and bake but I don't have the time or inclination for the work involved in a traditional garden. A weed-free, hassle-free patio garden serves the purpose and takes up very little time or room. Placing some of the more 'critter' comfort foods like lettuce and swiss chard up on the patio railing or in hanging baskets eliminates the necessity for an armed sentinel to guard the garden from bands of marauders hopping and munching among the epicurean delights they think the homeowner has set out for them. It also simplifies the task of watering and weeding. I keep a never used hoe and rake next to the pots to scare weeds away and remind myself how easy a garden it is to maintain.

Read more:
Proud of her work-free patio garden :: The SouthtownStar :: Lifestyles

Shared via AddThis

Cornell scientist to discuss drastic reduction of weed growth in Chautauqua Lake - ObserverToday.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Dunkirk | The Observer

LAKEWOOD - The Chautauqua Lake Association is sponsoring a symposium entitled the "Chautauqua Lake Aquatic Plant Workshop" led by aquatic scientist Robert L. Johnson, manager of Cornell University's Research Pond Facility, on July 13 at 7 p.m. at the Chautauqua Suites in Mayville. A second workshop is scheduled for July 14 at 7 p.m. at The Casino in Bemus Point. The events are free to the public. The workshops will give the community an opportunity to see, identify and learn about the different plant and insect species residing in the lake. Topics include the dramatic reduction in weed growth in Chautauqua Lake this year and the methods Johnson and the CLA used to curb infestation. Read more:
Cornell scientist to discuss drastic reduction of weed growth in Chautauqua Lake - ObserverToday.com News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Dunkirk The Observer Source: observertoday.com

lhc sent this using ShareThis.

When flowers become weeds

Thursday, JUN 18, 2009
www.lincolnjournalinc.com

Ask half a dozen people to define a weed, and you'll get half a dozen different answers. We all know what weeds are, in our own minds; but it's not so easy to say in just a few words. And, besides, one person's weeds may be another's wildflowers. A wildflower mix may contain yarrow, oxeye daisies and ironweed. Here in the country, they're considered weeds in pastures and fields, but they're wildflowers and they are pretty in bloom.

Some plants considered weeds here in America are cultivated as desirable flowers in other countries. Actually, when we stop to think about it, we realize all plants are wild somewhere in the world, or at least started out that way. Some of them have been improved to have more flowers or bigger flowers than their wild ancestors. But all plants were native (wild) somewhere, and many are considered weeds in their own country, but they're valued in other countries.

All this musing about weeds came about as I was weeding a large flower bed recently. Due to frequent rains, I hadn't been able to do it earlier, and it was getting quite weedy in places. This bed has mostly perennial plants, like lilies, daylilies and roses; but last year, I put in a few plants of spiderlegs (cleome). Weeding the bed this year was pulling up a few sprigs of grass and plantain, but hundreds of small cleomes. That day, I certainly called them weeds!

Each cleome plant makes a lot of seeds, and it's difficult to keep them all picked off so they can't fall to the ground and self-sow the following year. Some other annuals that do likewise are, cosmos, coxcomb, touch-me-not, larkspur and Sweet William. But none are so generous with their seeds as cleome. I still want to have these annuals, but not in flower beds that have to be weeded by hand. I now grow them in the vegetable garden without any problem, because cultivation and mulching keep them under control. After the first tilling in the Spring, these flower seedlings pop up here and there in the garden, but they're never as thick as in the flower bed. The tilling buries most of them too deep. We leave a few among the vegetables and destroy the rest, just like any other weed.

The dictionary says a weed is "a plant not valued where it is growing". I like that definition because it doesn't call a weed a worthless plant, just one growing where it isn't valued. I don't plan to get rid of all these self-sowing flowers, because it's nice to have some come up all by themselves, with no effort on my part. If there are too many, I just hoe them down or transplant some to a location where they're wanted.

Questions and comments can be sent to Thursy Baker at RR 2, Box 189, Branchland, WV 25506-9751; all letters answered