Flower Power

Erodium cicutarium
Erodium cicutarium

Have you ever gotten up-close and personal with any of those tiny flowers you find growing wild in your back yard or that have crept into your garden space to nestle alongside your Narcissus and Phlox?

Oxalyis stricta
Oxalyis stricta

I decided to do just that over the past few days.

Veronica persica
Veronica persica

It’s amazing what we trod upon as we go about our daily business.

Taraxacum officinale
Taraxacum officinale

Are these plants somehow not as important as those we lovingly cultivate through seeds, bulbs or cuttings?

Nothoscordum bivalve
Nothoscordum bivalve

In some cases, probably not.

Lamium amplexicaule
Lamium amplexicaule

Some of these small flowering plants are considered to be invasives. If not actually invasive, they may still be non-natives.

Senecio vulgaris
Senecio vulgaris

And most of them are probably referred to with that dreaded word — weed.

Stellaria media
Stellaria media

Whatever they may be considered — wildflower, weed, native, invasive — they’re still quite beautiful close up.