Seed Of Dreams

Milkweed seeds send my imagination into flight.

It must be their soft white hairs

and the way they cling to their mother's shell

as they dance with every passing breeze.

They remind me of children.

As a parent,

I can't help but see

the caramel-coloured husk

as a home,

with all the children tucked safely inside,

protected from the harshness of the weather.

It will take a determined gust of wind

to finally pull them free.

They'll soar into the sky,

giddy with their freedom,

sparkling in the sunlight,

on their way to new opportunities.

The parent's job is done.

Remember,

we gave them wings

so they can fly.

Wonderful Weeds!

Common Knapweed...

The name hardly does it justice.

Centaurea, it's proper name,

suits it much better.

It sounds like a secret

and hints at a history of magic and mystery.

This weed casts a spell on me

every spring.

Its long ghostly fingers

and shimmering colours

catch my eye

and draw me in

closer

and closer.

Give a Weed a Chance

This is the time of year when weeds get away with... I was going to say murder but maybe that's a little dramatic. They get away with growing.

The weed: a gardener's enemy. They take the place of our most prized plantings, sucking the nutrients from the soil, making us look lazy and uncommitted.

In the habit of pulling out weeds before they have a chance to get established, I am always surprised to find out that: they were even there at all, they can grow quite tall and they have flowers.

Given the chance to bloom, those flowers can sometimes be surprisingly beautiful.

When your other plants have given up, stopped flowering and dropped their leaves, the weed can provide you with something to marvel at.

Give a weed a chance and it will prove it deserves a place in your garden, your September garden.