Not Beneath Our Notice

In late April and early May, our lawn areas were dotted with purple (and sometimes white), especially under the oak trees and by Eden, the smaller of our two high tunnels.  These little lawn jewels bloom longer in years when we aren't having one of our top ten driest May months on record.  But, that doesn't mean we can't enjoy them when they are there.

from KWWL

I remember spending a fair amount of time outside and on the ground growing up so I could look at clover, dandelions and violets.  My siblings and I even bought into the May Day basket idea of collecting some of the early Spring flowers and putting them into baskets.  The only difficulty was figuring out which houses would appreciate finding one of those little baskets at their door after we put them there, knocked - and then ran away.

Yes, it's true.  Not everyone saw the beauty in a small, sometimes bedraggled, bouquet of flowers.  It's kind of a shame that so many people didn't, really.

If you were (or still are) one of those children who took some amount of delight in picking a few Common Violets, you would know that each flower appears atop its own stem that comes from the top of the root ball.  There are no leaves, or other flowers, that share the stem.  This means they are perfect for miniature flower art projects.

Every so often, I have found violets that are white, which seems like a conflict of interest or something.  Violets are supposed to be violet colored, except when they're white, or maybe even yellow.  While the yellow violets are a different species, the Common Violet can sometimes have white coloration, occasionally mixing the color violet with white.  There was a couple of plants that featured mostly white flowers down by Eden last year, but I did not see them this year. 

Yes, I noticed that they weren't there.  Yes, I went looking for them.  Why?  Is that weird?

Perhaps you don't think it is weird to look for violets, but you do think I am at least a little bit strange that I enjoy a nice, healthy bloom of dandelions.  But maybe you would change your mind if you noticed the bumblebees bumbling their way around the flowers during their early season flights.

Getting back to the Common Violets, however, it is interesting to note that some people herald them for their potential as a foraged food in natural landscapes.  Both the leaves and flowers are edible, though I will admit that I prefer observing them to eating them myself.  On the other hand, there is another camp that sees violets as a nasty weed to be controlled.  After all, you wouldn't want a slightly different texture and a little color to become part of our urban landscape!  At least this lawn site gives a little balance, citing the Common Violets beauty and potential as a food item - before telling you how to kill them.

Isn't it strange how we have somehow decided that clover, dandelions and violets are all undesirables in our lawn.  While some people make the claim that dandelions were introduced to North America by the Puritans in the 1600s, the actual introduction to the continent is a bit less certain.  However, it is documented that Europeans brought dandelions with them as both a food and medicine source.  If you are wondering how to eat dandelions, try this source.

From a soil health perspective, we like the way the deep taproots loosen and aerate the soil.  We feel that these same roots bring nutrients up from deeper soil layers so they can be used by other plants.  And, because they draw most of their moisture and food from a deeper soil layer, they often don't compete with our food crops, so they aren't a bad weed for a veggie farm.

And then there is the clover.  Prior to the 1960s, clover was a regular part of lawn seed mixes until the herbicide industry began selling the idea that grass, and only one kind of grass, should be welcome in a "well-maintained" lawn.  I still remember that barefoot children always took note of where the clover was so they didn't accidentally step on a bee and get stung!  Now barefoot children stay off the lawn because it's been recently sprayed with pesticides.

It's amazing to me that we have allowed ourselves to be convinced that less life is better in the outdoor spaces around us.  Well, I don't buy it.  Give me more clover, more violets and even more dandelions.  Certainly, there will be places on our farm where we remove some in favor of other plants.  But as far as weeds go, these three are our friends.  Maybe there are some other new friends we will also learn to get along with too?  We're always open to learning and we'll let you know as we do!

Thank you for considering my words and thoughts.  Have a wonderful day and a fine upcoming weekend.