Showing posts with label native. Show all posts
Showing posts with label native. Show all posts

Weedflower garden

Saturday, April 19, 2008

My backyard is currently what I call a "weedflower garden," since it's covered with tons of native spiderwort plants that put out oodles of beautiful blue flowers each morning.

The yard didn't always look like this.

When I first moved in, it was your standard-issue suburban back yard with a decent covering of grass. I wasn't big on watering and fertilizing, so over time the weeds (as some people call them) began to take over. I really like the flowers produced by spiderwort, known botanically as Tradescantia virginiana, so I let them grow and bloom each spring. At least for awhile.

Soon I'll get serious again and mow down the "weeds," which will no doubt bring my neighbors great satisfaction. I think they believe that my backyard is a bad influence on their closely tended and well-manicured lawn. Oh well. At least I'm a good neighbor in other ways. I don't have a yippy dog, I don't throw loud parties, and I don't harass them for the invasive Chinese tallow tree that they have allowed to flourish in their front yard (although I should, especially since I'm always finding seedlings in my yard).


Spiderwort
Originally uploaded by sassycrafter
Until I get motivated to mow, I'll continue to enjoy my weedflower garden. I like to gaze at the flowers from the kitchen door while sipping my morning coffee. I marvel at how the flowers seem to blanket the entire yard and at how the morning sunlight backlights the blue petals until they almost glow.