I grew up with a mother who embodied the restlessness of the plant world – always dividing clumps of successful plantings, dealing with sudden uprisings of unplanned seedlings, and generally moving things about as season and biology allowed. If you own or live near a manicured garden, you know that it takes constant input to keep it looking a certain way. Mainly because nature abhors a vacuum and plants grow according to genes, which we only have partial control over. Humans are not masters of our surroundings, we are just a maintenance crew along for the ride of growth and decay.
The part of gardening no one likes is weeding. The end result might be satisfying but the effort involved and the endlessness of it is what drives people to the herbicide aisle. A more refined approach to weeding is trying our best to avoid it by sidestepping situations that lead to its necessity. But that’s not what I’m here to write about this week.
This topic of “weeds” is near and dear to my heart as I work to transform my yard into a more biodiverse space by including a host of native plants. Often what results from my clearing of vinca and blackberries are a host of introduced annuals laying in wait as seeds. I’m after a situation where I can leave things to a native seed bank. This may be a losing battle in a highly altered landscape but I soldier on.
However, knowing who is springing up can be a fun exercise, a way to honor the plants while learning how to usher them away. Keep your enemies close right? I find this lessens my frustration at finding a newly cleared area of my yard seeded with yet another unwanted plant. Here’s a few of the recent plants that have been on my mind and that you almost undoubtedly have seen on the Hill.
Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) Continue reading