Why do we call dandelions weeds?

[Bootsy]

but to me a weed is any plant that starts growing in your garden without your consent

As far as I'm concerned I agree with your sentiment but would change the word 'starts' to 'continues' . We let self-seeded 'plants' grow until we decide whether we wish to keep them. This has resulted in quite a lot of different plants in our garden.

The flower in my avatar is a good example. It arrived without consent and has now been cosseted and encouraged as it is so beautiful. It's a Wild Bee Orchid

For those of you who like dandelions (It's near where Zigs lives but hundreds of miles from me)

A very pretty coastal town

A dandelion seed head in the very early morning dew

 

[zigs]

I was at Sidmouth last week

Hell of a weed growing on the cliff there, a Hottentot Fig from South Africa, thought i'd taken a pic but I can't find it

 

[Bootsy]

That cliff is a lovely early morning walk to watch the sunrise

 

[zigs]

Never got there that early

Found it

 

[headfullofbees]

Mark Catesby, known as the Colonial Naturalist and arguably the most important naturalist of the last few thousand years, was said to have called weeds "more self-reliant flowers". The dandelion is not only a lovely flower, but it is important medically and is an excellent source of food for humans, It can also be used to make a popular wine.
I lived in the Knoxville area a few years ago and had a musician friend who insisted (vehemently, he had OCPD) that the beautiful wild violet is a terrible weed. I pointed out that many people in East Tennessee (where violets grow particularly well) have flower beds dedicated to them, and I once lived in a lovely rental home near Sevierville where the instructions for lawn care included "Don't harm the violets" (the front lawn had no grass, only an incredibly beautiful variety of violets. To be fair, it was on a steep slope and would have been hard to mow
Dandelions and violets are both in a group of wild-flowers which are either loved or hated. I here have lovely spider-sorts (two varieties) in my lawn, my back lawn is solidly one ground-hugging variety that makes a lovely alternative to grass (under spreading oaks).

You call bellbind, or field horsetail, or ground elder, "more self-reliant flowers"?

 

[IcyBC]

Here is another weed flower that grows all over the ground. They are just so beautiful and little that I am afraid to step on them. Not sure if they are called buttercups or not, but they have the buttercup shape to me.

 

[Trellum]

As far as I'm concerned I agree with your sentiment but would change the word 'starts' to 'continues' . We let self-seeded 'plants' grow until we decide whether we wish to keep them. This has resulted in quite a lot of different plants in our garden.

The flower in my avatar is a good example. It arrived without consent and has now been cosseted and encouraged as it is so beautiful. It's a Wild Bee Orchid

View attachment 6373

View attachment 6374

For those of you who like dandelions (It's near where Zigs lives but hundreds of miles from me)

View attachment 6375

A very pretty coastal town
View attachment 6376


A dandelion seed head in the very early morning dew
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Well, a weed is a weed also depending where it grows That 3rd and 4th picture proves that. I guess weeds exists for a reason. I was amazed to see in the Netherlands (I'm moving there soon) palm trees can be expensive, but here in my home country they grow like weeds. I've two growing in my garden right now... they just started growing there one day. Someone told me calla liies grow like weeds in some parts New Zealand.

 

[claudine]

As far as I'm concerned I agree with your sentiment but would change the word 'starts' to 'continues' . We let self-seeded 'plants' grow until we decide whether we wish to keep them. This has resulted in quite a lot of different plants in our garden.

The flower in my avatar is a good example. It arrived without consent and has now been cosseted and encouraged as it is so beautiful. It's a Wild Bee Orchid

View attachment 6373

View attachment 6374

For those of you who like dandelions (It's near where Zigs lives but hundreds of miles from me)

View attachment 6375

A very pretty coastal town
View attachment 6376


A dandelion seed head in the very early morning dew
View attachment 6377

These pictures are breathtakingly beautiful! For me, there is no such thing as too many dandelion puffballs. The more of them I see, the happier I feel They look so pretty, delicate and magical!

 

[thomas pendrake]

You call bellbind, or field horsetail, or ground elder, "more self-reliant flowers"?

I would imagine that Catesby would have called them "more self-reliant flowers", I would like to point out that field horsetail is widely used as a medicinal herb. Ground elder is like the dandelion, many people consider it a very desirable plant, especially as an edible. It is also considered a decorative plant by others.
Catesby also prized plants for their use by wildlife, especially birds. He was the first naturalist to illustrate birds (and other wild-life) in relation to plants associated with them, particularly as food

 

[Bootsy]

would imagine that Catesby would have called them "more self-reliant flowers", I would like to point out that field horsetail is widely used as a medicinal herb. Ground elder is like the dandelion, many people consider it a very desirable plant, especially as an edible. It is also considered a decorative plant by others.
Catesby also prized plants for their use by wildlife, especially birds. He was the first naturalist to illustrate birds (and other wild-life) in relation to plants associated with them, particularly as food

Hi Thomas,

I agree that a lot of 'weeds' are useful (medicinally or otherwise) and some are attractive but it doesn't take away from the fact that they can be invasive and pernicious.

We used to use dandelions in a salad and medicinally, ground elder and nettles we use in soups, we keep a nettle area for the butterflies to breed on but find it necessary to work hard to eradicate them from areas we don't wish to have them (which is most parts of the garden). We also used horsetail as an abrasive cleans for pot and pans.

I'm not sure that there are 'many' people that like all of them or use them but there are certainly some people that do.

I keep a wild area of about 4,000 sq ft which has lots of wild flowers and plants for bees, butterflies, moths and other insects. The invasive weeds are kept strictly to an area in my herb and medicinal garden.

I'm very aware that my neighbours wouldn't be too happy if I didn't keep the 'weeds' under proper control. I suppose that brings into question whether they are weeds if they are 'cultivated'! I still call them weeds because I wouldn't want them to get loose elsewhere. Maybe I'm just playing at semantics!