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Weeds, Where Do They Come From?

© Howard Deutch

    Now that spring has passed, one would think that gardening chores would slow down. Pity the neophyte gardener.

            Gardeners work from sun to sun.
Their work is never done.

                                            apologies to women

    All spring long, on hands and knees, I crawled along the garden beds pulling weeds. As soon as I passed, new ones sprang up. One would think that after untold passes the weeds would be vanquished. Not so. An infinite number of weed seeds skulked just beneath the surface, biding their time. The reason they are weeds is that they are undesirable and refuse to give up the ghost. They return relentlessly. Sow-Thistle has emerged in a bed of Foxgloves. When young, their leaves are not too dissimilar from the Foxgloves among whom they hide. Every year for the last few I uproot dozens of Sow-Thistle plants. Where do they come from? Plants that are overlooked suddenly shoot up a flower stalk which stands ready to distribute seeds if missed for but a day. Why oh why do they seek me out. I have tried to lead a good life. I do not beat my wife nor scare little children. I deserve better.

    This year a Garlic Mustard thrust itself up alongside the Monkshood. I did not realize what it was until flowers formed. A biennial, it must have hidden behind the group of Monkshood last year, overlooked. This most dangerous plant has its seeds distributed by animals such as deer of which we have a plentiful supply. Left to its own devices, Garlic Mustard would only be second to Purple Loosestrife in taking over the world. I have not noticed any Sow-Thistle nor Garlic Mustard elsewhere nearby. Again, where do they come from and why do they seek me out?

   

    Early in spring we were able to enjoy the first flowers of the year. Our Hopi Crabapple puts on its beautiful display only every other year. This was its year. Trillium bloomed in the nearby woods. The sweet scented Lily-of-the-Valley flowered on the north side of the house. The weeds lurked in the ground, awaiting their turn.

 

    Some kind of Oxalis proliferates among my plants. I just can not understand how, every day, more appear where I had thought I eradicated them. Some weeds are never ending. Even among a dense covering of Myrtle there are the

Hopi Crabapple, Red Trillium, Lily-of-the-Valley

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