When is a Weed, Not a Weed?

A dear friend and I were recently discussing her annoyance with the “weeds” that were rampantly growing in her lush lawn. The poor girl was beside herself with frustration over the prolific way they were taking over and her apparent inability to rid herself of them. In an effort to calm her and perhaps be of help, I took a trip to her place to take a look for myself. Turns out that what she called “weeds” were actually wildflowers/herbs. There along the front of her house interspersed with what we would refer to as grass, was a beautiful sea of White Clover, patches of Vetch and even a smattering of Wild Bergamont.   I happen to consider all three of these beneficial and desirable plants.

The fact that her “weeds” had names and purposes had no affect on her desire to stamp them out. Which brings me to the question..when is a weed, not a weed? After all, say the word dandelion and most people will think weed. Large amounts of herbicide is used every season in an effort to eradicate this one little plant. However, dandelions are not weeds, they are actually herbs and are even classified as wildflowers. Did you know that dandelion plants contain high levels of vitamins A and C? The young leaves make a nutritious addition to salads, the flowers can be used to make dandelion wine (common around these parts), and the root can be used as a coffee substitute. The dandelion root and leaves make a great kidney cleansing tea and the root is a traditional medicinal herb. It’s good for chronic hepatitis, reduces liver swelling and jaundice, and it helps indigestion caused by insufficient bile. Besides, they’re just so much fun to make a wish on and blow into the wind!

Many plants we consider weeds, just aren’t which made me wonder what the true definition of the word “weed” is, so I looked it up and here’s what I found:

Main Entry: 1weed

Pronunciation: \ˈwēd\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English wēod weed, herb; akin to Old Saxon wiod weed

Date: before 12th century
1 a (1) : a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth; especially : one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants (2) : a weedy growth of plants b : an aquatic plant; especially : SEAWEED c (1) : tobacco products (2) : MARIJUANA
2 a : an obnoxious growth, thing, or person b : something like a weed in detrimental quality; especially : an animal unfit to breed from

Now, there’s an ahaa moment for you! So when is a weed, not a weed? When you say it isn’t, that’s when! Under that definition, I’m pretty sure we can all think of atleast one plant in our gardens we would classify as a weed. What immediately came to my mind was the Mint I erroneously placed amongst the roses, and the lemon balm I had no idea would attempt a coup.

A weed is truly in the eye of the beholder!

After commenting from some of my garden friends..I'm adding this to my post.  Many of you seem to have wildflowers/herbs/weeds that you would like to identify.  The best thing to use is a Wildflower identification book for your area.  Since I'm in TN I can recommend  "Wildflowers of Tennessee the Ohio Valley and the southern Appalachians", by Horn-Cathcart.  This is the offical guide of the  Tennessee native Plant Society.  It's pretty much like my bible, I take it everywhere.  It has a wonderful color key in the front which allows you to identify the plant by color and then gives you the page you can find more information on.  I found it at Amazon.com, but if you have a book store in your area I'd imagine they have it.