are the bane of every gardener. However as this excellent site says weeds are simply plants that are growing in the wrong place.
Even though I consider my allotment to be a wild plot and let various weeds, such as Rosebay Willowherb, grow I do spend much of my time digging, or pulling, up ones like Prickly Sow-thistle.
I’m almost tempted to let it become a weed plot as many of them are really lovely flowers. However I’m sure that my plot neighbours would be very unhappy if I did that!
I did a draft of this entry on Friday and yesterday morning when I looked in the Independent newspaper I came across this article!
Flighty's plot 
I wouldn’t mind if I had lovely ‘weeds’. But I hate nettle, dock and dandelion (even though we used to have dandelion leaves in salads in Switzerland). They’re hard to take out. -_-
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Sinta I think that most gardeners would agree with you.
My mother was a most informal gardener so left clover and daisies in the lawn, and plantains dotted around. It infuriated a next door neighbour who waged a constant war on weeds! xx
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That’s some site you have found there. Rabbits don’t seem so keen on weeds, perhaps I should plant a few!
Some of them are pretty I must admit. I especially like the one from the Daily Photo. Like the site says, they are just in the wrong place… however, I don’t think the right place is your plot! :o)
I think buttercups and daisies just look right wherever they are and are very often a link to many childhoods. Who hasn’t made a daisy chain?
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Site! (sorry)
*shakes head*
The weeds are a sight!
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Another very informative posting, Flighty. I’m enjoying following the links which are really great. Being able to look at photos of the weeds is a great help in identifying them … and I recognize quite a few familiar faces! Good information also on the weeds growing cycle and how to eradicate (or try to) them from the garden. I can certainly relate to the article in the newspaper where you start with one thing in mind, and end up doing a million other things before remembering what you went out to do in the first place!
One thing I did get a kick out of was the names of some of the weeds … and it reminded me of some Shakespearean insults that can be made up by choosing words from three different columns, ending up with some like “Grizzled muddy-mettled scullion”.
Although I’m not into insulting anyone, I couldn’t help but think that the following weed names would be something no-one would like to have flung at them…
You….common figwort! (figwort could be replaced by bog stitchwort, pearlwort, vetch, ragwort, ribwort, woundwort, fumitory).
I think it was the bog stitchwort that got me going! Trust me to take your weeds and throw them about!
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Daffy isn’t it just! Weeds seem to appear as if by magic and don’t need planting!
You’re right but I will continue to have some around the plot.
That’s probably why mum let daisies grow in the lawn! xx
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Glo thanks, it really is an excellent site! The photos of both leaves and flowers is paricularly helpful for identifying plants.
Yes I found myself nodding in agreement when I read that!
I love your thoughts on weed flinging insults! Great fun! xx
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Some weeds I like, some weeds I hate, and some weeds I just have to learn to live with! x
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Louise fair enough, I think that is a good outlook to have! xx
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I don’t really mind the young weeds and their flowers, but they tend to get that weedy unkempt look when they set seed. So nice of you to be considerate of your plot neighbours!
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Nikki I suppose that most plants eventually get unkempt! It would be silly to upset them as they are such a nice crowd. xx
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There was an article in The Guardian a few weeks ago (by blogger Fluffius Muppetus aka Emma Cooper) about eating weeds, so maybe you’ve got the right idea! All this veg growing’s so passe now 😉
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VP eating weeds! I think that you must mean this article xx
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/12/gardens.seasonaleating
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Well, surprised no one has yet said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure…
But looking at flowers like the Rosebay Willowherb, you have to wonder who ruled what makes a weed. I guess because it’s so easy for them to grow where our fussy little garden plants struggle.
Also, nice to see how many weeds are used as good old herbal remedies.
xx
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I started wondering what actually defined a weed, and came and found: n the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, a weed “is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”
Also, on this same definition site:
Etymologically, “weed” derives from the Old English word for “grass” or “herb,” but during the Middle Ages the meaning has changed to indicate an undesirable plant that grows where it is not wanted, especially among agricultural plots. This has historically been the primary meaning of the word, although in the nineteenth century, American writers grew increasingly aware that calling a plant a “weed” was an arbitrary human judgment, as there is no natural category of weeds.
http://www.answers.com/topic/weed
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Oops ~the first sentence should read: I started wondering what actually defined a weed, and found: in the words of fRalph Waldo Emerson, a weed “is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”
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Way to go, Glo – thanks for informing us. And relative to what Emerson said – just look how many weeds are proven remedies.
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Liv I’m sure that there some who agree wholeheartedly with that!
I think that it’s formal gardeners that try to dictate that.
As you say it’s nice to see that weeds are used like that, but it’s so often overlooked nowadays by most people. xx
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Glo I suppose that it’s modern day, formal gardeners that have been responsible for dictating what plants are weeds. Thankfully I think that it’s beginning to change to a more balanced outlook where we work with nature rather try to control it.
Thanks for the informative comment! xx
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A couple of interesting articles there, Mr. F. I learned that I was confusing groundsel and chickweed. I thought they were the same!
Weeds can be very pretty – and nettles are good for butterflies. But only if you are not trying to grow anything in their proximity.
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Ellie I’m finding it all very useful!
Yes they can. I let dead nettles grow on the plot but not the stinging ones! xx
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This is certainly something every gardener can identify with. I can easily pull a bucket full of weeds every time I am in the yard if I want to. The best thing for me is the ball weeder from the Red Pig. Saves the wrist. Your idea of letting some grow and flower sounds realistic to me with a whole plot under your care but you are probably right that your neighbors aren’t keen about sharing. Thanks for the link to the weed site.
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If a plant is a weed rather depends on who is looking at them. As you know I have clover and about a gazillion daisies in my lawn, am very fond of wild flowers (which many people would consider weeds too) and I’ve been known to let a few weeds grow in my garden because I thought they were pretty. 🙂
But, like the author of the article, I have bindweed in my garden and am trying to get rid of it. Not because I don’t like the flowers (I do, I think they are very pretty) but because the bindweed is killing off other plants. Not a good idea, so out it will have to come.
How’s the weather with you? Here we have some sun and some rain today.
cheerio, xox
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Ho Flighty!
I thought of you last night when I happened across a program on BBC2 called “Grow your own Veg”.
Knowing you’re a keen gardner I wondered if you were as disturbed as me that we seem to have descended in to needing TV to tell us how to grow vegetables?
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That’s the one!
xx
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I don’t mind weeding apart from when I inadvertently touch a stinging nettle! Ouch.
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Beginninghere yes indeed and ‘I must do some some weeding’ is a stock phrase!
That’s true especially as my plot neighbours have well tended and virtually weed free plots.
You’re welcome!
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Yolanda I’m not that keen on lawns and much prefer them to be like that!
I think that bindweed is near, or at, the top of every gardeners list of weeds.
The weather here continues to unsettled with most days seeing some rain! xx
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Jason hello! It’s a good programme for new gardeners or people like me who haven’t grown vegetables before.
What I do find worrying is that many people, and children, don’t know where vegetables come from!
Cheers!
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VP it’s an interesting, and informative, read! xx
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Maureen I try to remember to wear gloves for that very reason! xx
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LOL, I’d never thought of it like that Flighty, weeds being plants in the wrong place… yeah, I suppose they are.
When I had a plot I used to get a LOT of verbal from the old woman on the next plot about me not controlling the weeds on my plot. She appeared to live on her plot, always there whenever I popped up.
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Assortedpixels that’s especially true where flowers and vegetables are grown commercially, but obviously more a matter of personal choice in the garden or on the plot.
There’s always one like that isn’t there! Thankfully I don’t see the one on my site very often. Cheers!
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What a great article on weeds in The Independent. Bindweed has become the bane of my existence in my garden. It is impossible to get rid of and it seems to sprout tendrils when your back is turned and precious shrubs and plants are obliterated by the stuff.
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Liz I’ve just raed that article again and agree. I sympathise as I get bindweed on the plot so know what’s it’s like. xx
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