wildflowers and weeds (was Re: Eggcorn?)

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On May 16, 2005, at 9:17 PM, James C Stalker wrote:

> ...As I was engaged in the manly
> ritual of taking out the garbage tonight, I took stock of my yard and
> decided that I was going to have to do something about the forget-
> me-nots,
> phlox, and buttercups, which/that are taking over my garden.  They
> are all
> native to Michigan and love the cool weather.  They don't care
> where they
> grow, especially given the fertilizer and watering I've provided.
> In fact,
> they are spreading like wildflowers.  There seems to be a definition
> problem.  What constitutes a "wildflower"?  A delicate thing that
> needs a
> very specific enviornment, or a hardy flower that's cute in the
> woods but is
> a weed in our garden?

a weed is a plant that insists on growing where you don't want it.
wildflowers are plants that mostly grow outside of cultivation.

some weeds are invasive cultivated plants.  most are invasive
wildflowers.

some people cultivate what are normally wildflowers, like lady's
slippers and jack-in-the-pulpit.  and there are strains of some weedy
wildflowers -- even dandelions! -- that are meant for cultivation,
though i tend to be wary indeed of them.

when i had a real garden -- i'm now a container gardener -- i tended
to work with moderately invasive plants, preferring to chop things
back rather than nursing them along.  but i definitely had limits,
and occasionally i made errors.  let me warn everyone against
houttuynia cordata, for example.  (i grow it in a pot now, where it
can be safely contained.)

if you're a californian, you probably don't need to be warned about
(most species of) bamboo.  bird-of-paradise plants quickly get out of
hand, too.  and you should be careful to find out the truth about
anything labeled as "trumpet vine" or "trumpet flower vine"; some of
them are fine, but many are pests.

arnold