Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Friday, March 28, 2008
Too Cute To Be a Weed
Just yesterday I planted some HUGE pansies, and then I find these blooming in the vegetable garden. I'm going to let them stay (for now) because I think they're adorable.
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| Viola arvensis |
The flowers are tiny, smaller than my fingernails and I have small hands.
A couple of small patches of Bluets are now in bloom, but no sign of Spring Beauties yet.
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| Bluets (Houstonia sp.) |
Yesterday turned out to be a good day for gardening, but we could use some rain. The basil post I had planned will have to wait, but here's a preview - I sowed seeds of a dozen or so different varieties this week.
Labels: bluets, violas, wildflowers
13 Comments:
I know some people consider Violets a weed, but I agree that they are too pretty to completely weed out. I let mine flower, then judiciously thin them so they don't take over.
I could send you some wet snow? The little blossoms are wonderful. :)
Your title says it all. We don't consider the little violas weeds wherever they decide to grow. Now the dog violets, which are beautiful and blooming right now, are thugs, with a rhizome type thing that will crowd out all but the toughest plant roots. Out with them!
Frances at Faire Garden
Those flowers are really sweet.
Good luck with the basil. Basil is my favourite herb-I use it almost every day in cooking/food. Today I had a friend over for lunch and I made a pizza with homemade pesto. Yum! Right now I have Thai, Penang lemon, purple and fino verde.
I would never consider any flower as pretty as these, weeds. Although, I think rather kindly of weeds flowering in my garden as you might gather from my post today.
Cool how we are on the same wavelength. I notice that happens a lot in the garden blogosphere.
One gardener's weed is another gardener's wildflower! Too pretty to weed out for sure, and if I'm not mistaken, you can eat the blooms. (Maybe that's why they showed themselves in the garden...cosmic hint? ;-)
MMD: I have those take-over-the-world kind of violets in the wooded area. And to think I put them there myself! Some of my worst weeds came to my garden in seed packets. But they are pretty.
Nancy: I might take up your offer of snow if it doesn't rain soon. ;-) We were supposed to get rain again yesterday, but only got sprinkles.
Frances: I know what you mean about those violet rhizomes. I think mine might be a different kind because they're easy to pull up (?), but they get really thick if I don't keep after them.
Nicole: Your pizza sounds wonderful. My spouse isn't keen on pesto and I love it. I can't understand why he doesn't like it, because he likes basil and garlic. Anyhow, I don't make it very often :-(
We have some basils in common, except I didn't plant fino verde.
MSS: I'll be right over to read your post! There does seem to be some kind of garden telepathy.
Lisa: Hmm, I hadn't thought of that.... I think green salads with flowers look pretty, but I've never made one myself. Wonder if all the violas are edible?
The 'hearts ease' viola should be called 'eye balm' instead. Wow you have bluets already! Sadly I don't think the ones we've had for two years made it this winter. :(
Ki: I'm with you on the "eye balm" idea. I think the wild violas were the first wildflower I found last spring in Central Virginia, but those were in the farmer's field across the road. I've been looking for bluets in the spot where I first saw them last year, but haven't seen any there yet. The little clump in the photo sprouted near the house. I hope yours come back - they're such a dainty little flower, and an interesting subject for macro photography with that tiny splash of yellow in the center.
Sometimes the best plants are those that are "given" to us my mother nature! Enjoy your wildflowers!
How lucky you are! We won't have our pansies and violets until May. Cheers!
That Violet is very pretty and I understand completely that you want to leave it in (for now). I have several weeds growing in my garden that I really like.
If a so called weed has pretty flowers or leaves and is not too invasive, I let it be. And I call those weeds wildflowers as I know that quite a few people would be shocked about my growing weeds on purpose in my garden. Oh well, what else could you expect from a person whose name means Violet?
hello there, i'm happy to find you... lucky you, your bulbs are blooming already.
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