What is a Weed?

"What is a weed? 
 A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Ralph Waldo Emerson



Ponder, if you will, the common Roadside Lily.
AKA Railroad Lily
AKA Outhouse Lily
AKA Wash-house Lily
a plant, so prolific, that it has the potential
to become a noxious weed.

You can hardly drive a country mile
without passing at least 5 clumps of this
"weed" along the roadside.
It is so abundant that it is considered a native wildflower.

Order it from a catalog, and you have bought the Tawny Daylily.
Not a weed, but a perennial flower.

We have several clumps of these daylilies growing around our farm.
Each morning, the buds open at sunrise and close again at sunset...
each day's flowers replaced by new ones the next.
I have always wondered where they came from.

Was there once a Johnny Appleseed of Daylilies?
I guess not.
It seems they have always been here.
A weed, by virtue of the fact that they grow in the "wrong" place.
Not put there by human hand, 
but by a force of nature.

"A weed is but an unloved flower."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Something else to ponder.....

"A man's children and his garden 
both reflect the amount
of weeding done during the growing season."
Author Unknown

It seems to me that the task at hand is to decide what are weeds and what are not!

Comments

Jill said…
I love orange daylilies! Congrats on your Grandbaby! Now you have another buddy to help with chores and in the garden.

Jill in PA
Sandy said…
I love these flowers. They have always been a favorite of mine but I have never considered them "weeds". I've always called them "Tiger Lilies" not knowing their real name. My hubby to be once stopped by the side of a road and picked a bunch of them for me as a surprise. I think they are so pretty. I wish I had some in my yard.
Junebug said…
On my, I planted a weed on purpose in my yard! Here in the west they aren't known as a weed and don't seem to be as prolific. Mine have grown and spread some over the last few year but I love there color and happy faces. Might just have to plant more on purpose.
Anonymous said…
I can remember my sister and I transplanting them to our homes from our grandparents farm...they're probably still there
Farm Girl said…
They grow wild??? I pay so much money for those in the spring. How funny, You are so right about "What is a Weed." You should hear my daughter trying to talk me into letting her rip out my black-eyed susans, because she thinks I have to many. :)
Enjoy your baby today.
Misty said…
I had not idea they grow wild! I planted them in my flower bed. I got the bulbs from a friend of mine. I think they are beautiful next to my lilac bush and purple coneflower.
Cathy said…
Oh Bev, every year at this time I drive past these beautiful orange lilies and it reminds me of my "Grammy" and it brings such warm memories. She would take us rides to look at the "sh__house" lilies and we would laugh and laugh at her for saying that!!!!!
*Ulrike* said…
I still like them yet I place them in a separate area as they send underground runners out, and take over other daylilies. My mom got the first one from my grandmother who still has a few, but she doesn't like them anymore as she is more into the different colored ones.
I guess they pretty much survive anywhere!
Stefunkc said…
Love the quote and the flowers!
Autumn said…
So funny! I struggle to keep my weeds like this alive!!!!
Anonymous said…
I wish I had those weeds -- a weed to me is -- if it bits me it's pulled outor even looks like it could bit -- if it has a flower and does not bit me it stays and lives happy ever after - unless my husband is around. I love Roadside Lily too -- what a beautiful sight!