Ragged Robin flowers grow wild in the yard. They just popped up a few summers ago and I’ve been mowing around them ever since. They’re too pretty to cut down.
I used to mow around the Oxeye daisies too but now restrict their growth to mostly a large circular bed in one corner of the yard. Once they’re done blooming, I mow the area flat.
Wild flowers require no special care. They grow where God has planted them (or I’ve transplanted them) and need no extra watering beyond what rains down. They’re not as prone to blight and insect damage as introduced species seem to be, and the slugs don’t have much of an apetite for them.
Unfortunately, these plants are often seen as weeds and tend to be either tolerated or eradicated with great effort from city lawns.
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.~ William Blake, Auguries of Innocence
Whether or not a plant is considered a weed is a matter of perception. Poet William Blake believed that ‘If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.’ Signs of innocence are close at hand but it’s up to us to open our eyes, take notice and try to understand them. ‘Everything that lives is holy’ and can bring us in touch with that which is infinite. What positive things might happen today if we were willing to abandon our pre-conceived, limited notions of beauty and abundance?
Nature in its many forms possesses qualities that can connect us to this holy state. From sandpipers on the ocean’s shore to doves on city streets, these signs of innocence are ready to give us a glimpse of the infinite and the eternal, if only we would adjust our focus.
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How beautiful!
I love wild flowers too, particularly the ones that suddenly appear in the middle of lawns and on grass verges in our neighbourhood … between the city council’s lawnmower attacks.
On the weekend, for instance, we were moseying around the neighbourhood, when we saw a vast field of wild flowers in white and yellow, with delicate pink, salmon and mauve dotted about here and there.
A day later, almost all the flowers appeared to be gone. A closer look revealed that they were all closed because the sky was too dark. Phew – relief!
Mom-in-law (visiting from Namibia this week) and I went for a stroll to the field this afternoon, with our cameras, and there they were: a vast swathe of cheerful little flowers, all basking in the sunlight, soaking up the cool rays of the winter sun.
Pure magic.
I’ll post some pics on my blog as soon as I have a moment. 🙂
Reggie, it’s amazing how some of these wild flowers are so sensitive to the presence or absence of the sun in the sky. It seems so odd to read about ‘the winter sun’ in South Africa.
Hi Amy – I got a chance to post the pics I mentioned here. 🙂
Let’s abandon all of our preconceived notions! Through them out the open door!
Ha ha Kathy! Abandoning preconceived notions seems to be our theme of the day 🙂
I love the wild flowers too – we have ox eye daisies, foxglove, mullein and wild violets – with hopes of more to come. One place we lived, daffodils grew wild – it was amazing to see them along the roads in in the fields.
I am trying to coax wild sweet peas, CA poppies and wild phlox to come into our yard – they grow abundantly here but so far not in our yard. I think I’ll go and pick some wild sweet pea seeds and bring them in – just a little encouragement.
I love that photo of the birds flying – are they crows. WOW – a crow just flew up to the little feeder that is attached to my window – he couldn’t land but for a few seconds he kind of hovered there and then flew away. There is a squirrel, three blue jays, an evening grosbeak, chickadees, robin, red breasted nuthatch and some Brewers blackbirds at the feeders right now – what a treat – and I can see them out the window as I type and read blogs.
JoAnn, you’re so lucky to have such an abundance of wild flowers and birds. AND a squirrel! Earlier this summer there was a crow that used to come by every day and sit on the edge of the eavestrough outside my office window. Once you become accustomed to seeing the little songbirds, a crow seems so large in comparison.
I’m not sure if those are crows in the photo of the sky. They were flying above the ocean and may have been seagulls.
I love this post. I happen to agree. Some of my favorite blossoms in the yard are weeds. We just had a profusion of Chicory and Two Flowered Cynthia last week. Both of these my husband considers weeds but leaves them alone as I would get miffed if he mowed them LOL
Jessica, I haven’t seen any Chicory around here lately. It’s such a pretty blue. But there is plenty of Two Flowered Cynthia in the yard.
too pretty to cut down – indeed!
Yes Bella, the mower is better used on grass.
Well said. Often times when pulling a dandelion I will stop and admire the tenacity of the tap root. Much to be enjoyed in what is otherwise weed.
I love the way you see the world and feel confident you would enjoy a favorite book of mine, THE VOICE OF THE INFINITE IN THE SMALL, about the human-insect relationship. Also, I just posted a backlit chicory bloom on my blog this morning, for those who don’t have them blooming yet.
Dawn, those dandelion tap roots are something else aren’t they? They are edible and to eat one is considered revenge by those who consider these plants weeds 🙂
Pamela, you are probably right about that book. The human-insect relationship is one that is likely seldom reflected upon unless we’re beset by mosquitoes in the woods (or the marsh as I was this morning). I will check it out as well as the chicory on your blog.
What an intriquing name….two-flowered Cynthia! I shall have to go and look it up as I’ve never heard of it…wonder if we have it here?!? Wild sweet peas are one of my many favorites – I’m going to try and get some seeds and/or plants going along the edges of my yard. My sister (also a gardener) says a plant is only a weed if it’s growing where you don’t want it!
Cindy, the Two-flowered Cynthia blooms remind me of Hawkweed. I haven’t seen any wild sweet peas around. They are pretty. Your sister is right on about plants’ weed status.