Plants Grown and In the Wild

Plants Loved and Hated

A fine line divides for most people, the plants they like and those they hate. This separation stems mainly from whether we wanted to cultivate them or they grew on their own, or unwanted weeds. That said, both plants we grow or nature decides to grow them have many similar qualities such as elegance, graceful lines, even gorgeous colors.

They differ generally in their growth behavior like invasiveness, offensive scents, or harmful chemicals that could do damage to humans or pets. One of the flowers in our backyard, Polygonatum Multiflorum or Solomon’s Seal came from a friend and we like its graceful lines and the string of flowers. However, we are also keenly aware of its invasive behavior, so it is relegated to the back of the yard in a confined area.

Weeds and Invasive Ones

There are also weeds that grow in the wild areas in the neighborhood amazingly fast and tall. There are many patches of Reynoutria Japonica or Japanese knotweed in the neighborhood that grows to 3′ height in no time covering large swatches of wild areas that I call wilderness next door. Even the lowly dandelion covers grassy areas if not controlled, yet their dried heads look surprisingly delicate and graceful in the multidirectional symmetries they present.

Cultivated Plants are the Best

As photogenic as weeds maybe, the plants in our yards and their flowers are hard to beat for their looks and colors. This is partly because we have chosen them to grow in our yard, and yes, some of them can be a bit aggressive and spread too fast. But knowing their invasive behavior prepares us to deal with them. We know loosestrife can spread in between other plants so we pull those that reach out and touch other plants.

Even the lovely Siberian Iris plant spreads rapidly. If you look carefully in our front and back yards you will see many clusters of Siberian Irises waving their purplish-blue flowers in multiple locations. They all came from three plants we bought many years ago and kept dividing them, even sharing many clumps with friends and neighbors.

So, come and take a look at the wilderness in our small neighborhood and the cultivated plants in our front and backyard gardens. There is more to blossom yet, so there will be more posts to come.