What’s in a name? Per the bard, that which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.
I don’t think that’s true, do you? Anne of Green Gables says, “I don’t believe a rose would be as nice if it were called a thistle or skunk cabbage.” And I’m inclined to agree with her.
Weeds have a real branding issue.
Take knapweed, for instance. I spent years thinking this fascinating spikey flower was bee balm. I felt blessed that it had volunteered in my garden, creeping through the chain link fence from my neighbor’s side and setting up colonies. I added it to flower arrangements quite happily, and noted the busy pollinators around it. Bee balm! Of course.
But no. It’s an invasive weed from Europe called knapweed, a name that doesn’t possess nearly the romance or appeal of a balm.
Is it less attractive now that I know its true name? Honestly, yeah, it kind of is.
Or take these sweet little purple flowers that grow throughout my lawn. Now yes, they are sticky and viney. But they’re not sharp or pokey or poisonous! They are a weed, with the growing habit to prove it. But should they be punished for their hardiness? I submit to you: the humble scurf pea.
I often catch bees on it so it seems the pollinators approve. I like the way it blends with the yellow and white clover slowly taking over my lawn.
I welcome weeds such as this one—anything that will outcompete thistles has a home in my garden.
My lawn is slowly being taken over by clover, dandelion, and various forms of lettuce. I love it. Bye bye, grass! Lawns are a symbol of patriarchy anyway, if you haven’t heard.1
This extra-tall dandelion-looking weed is called salsify, and it’s apparently a highly nutritious root vegetable with lots of good prebiotic properties. I may just have to dig one of these bad boys up and try it out. It grows to about four feet tall and has a very weedy habit that most gardeners would eliminate. But for now, I let them thrive. Not a thistle? Bees like you? Great, you pass the test and get to live in my lawn.
White campion is European in origin and reproduces through both root and seed, so it is considered an invasive weed. Fair enough.
It also has a lot of medicinal properties in folk medicine, for skin and digestive ailments, and for use as a soap substitute. I like the way the small white flowers open and close, and my pollinators sure seem to approve. Outcompetes the thistles? Provides habitat? Let it thrive.
Hoary alyssum is considered a noxious weed, and it’s quite toxic for horses, thus dangerous in fields. Happily I do not need to worry about dangers to grazing equines, and so I permit it to find a home here.
Houndstongue is also quite poisonous for horses and cows, so it’s considered a noxious weed in need of control.2 Houndstongue extracts and roots have been used in folk remedies for fever, eczema, acne, hemorrhoids, and baldness. I rather like the little purple-pink flowers.
I should probably examine my philosophy more closely and develop a stricter policy for which weeds are permitted to thrive. So far, my stance is pro diversity, anti thistle.3 So if you are anything other than a thistle, you live.
This has won me many exciting garden volunteers, including several clusters of yarrow and hollyhock. It has also earned me knapweed (which I like despite the name!), oxeye daisy (which I love), honeysuckle (love), and bindweed (which I’m less fond of). My lawn is full of lettuce and arugula that has gone to seed, and I’m determined to cultivate as much natural meadow habitat as I can.
I don’t spray, so all weed control (such as it is) is done manually.
I could have written this post about the current stars of my garden. The ruffled irises or the stunning peonies in bloom. The roses or the lupine. But weeds are underrated. They lurk at the fringes of my yard, kept out of the flower beds, forced to scrap and stretch for survival. I respect their hustle. And so, a pro-weed post!
Are you a gardener? Tell me why I’m making a horrible mistake!
Do you like weeds? Let me know!
I also recommend the book Nature’s Best Hope by Douglas Tallamy if you need more incentive to ditch your lawn and create a more useful landscape!
The name houndstongue comes from the old belief that a leaf worn in the shoe could ward off dog attacks. I have not tested this theory.
Thistles probably are useful to pollinators, I concede. But they are incredibly painful to touch or step on, so I don’t want them in my lawn!
Long live weed
people here have started doing “no mow may” and I think it’s carrying on to other months (“let it bloom june”) - basically less mowing/weeding to let wildflowers thrive for pollinators.
also I love oxeye daisies and they’re all over parks and fields here 🌼