Sunday, May 18, 2008

Spring wildflowers in my yard

One of the perks of living in the country is that I don’t have to care if there are dandelions in my yard nor worry what my neighbours might think if there are. Some say that dandelions are evil weeds – I like to refer to them as wildflowers. You see it’s all a matter of perspective. How can anyone despise a flower that is so pretty and that can pull off such a splendid imitation of the shining sun?

Yeah, I know – everyone hates them except me I guess.

To welcome wildflowers into your life and to enjoy their company (to me) is bliss! Although many wildflowers are wee in stature they endure being trampled on, being mowed repeatedly and getting munched on by critters. Our lawn is a colourful mix of green grasses and weeds, white clover, purple violets, yellow mustard and wood sorrel, plus a pretty mix of little pink and purple flowers that I don’t know the names of. Twice a year, in May and again in September our lawn bursts into bright yellow with dandelions. Maybe I would hate dandelions if we had them all summer, but the particular variety we have only blooms twice a year and after a couple of mowings they are only a memory.

Our woods are full of tiny strawberry plants and wild raspberry bushes. There’s something special about berries that grow in the dappled sunlight of the forest floor. Watered by Mother Nature and fertilized by the natural accumulation of forest leaf mulch these berries are more delicious than any that can be bought.





The spring has awakened the dainty little trout lilies (named for their leaves that resemble speckled trout) and is also treating us to the fleeting beauty of these lovely trilliums. The pine trees are covered in pretty little pink buds and the hawthorns and other flowering trees are in bloom and sweetening the air with their perfume.

I love to walk through our woods in the springtime. The air is fresh with the scent of spring flowers, the birds are singing, the bees are buzzing and the newly sprouted leaves rustle gently on the wind. The little river trickles lazily by and the sunshine bursts into sparkles on the water.

I’ll never take for granted the joys of living on this little piece of heaven on earth.

:o)
Kathleen (aka TheNatureNut)

15 comments:

BlenderBach said...

beautiful flowers! We've got a bit of a drought so I haven't seen many flowers yet this year :(

saffron said...

How beautiful! I also enjoy dandelions, and never pull them from my yard. I really don't understand why they're so disliked!!! They don't really take over at my house either, so that could also be why I don't get bothered by them.

Rosebud Collection said...

I'm with you, I never take anything for granted..Dandelions make a good wine and when young, the greens are good for eating..It is a beautiful flower, when you really look at it.Love the violets and everything else..Some I don't have in my yard, but they are beautiful to see on your blog..

High Desert Diva said...

I was so excited to find two wildflowers blooming in our desert yard yesterday. Yours are beautiful, and your description makes them more so...

fiona said...

lovely post :-)

Anonymous said...

We don't hate dandelions here! We eat them and their greens. We put the greens in salads...the flowers can be put into omelets...yum! You should see my children outside in spring and summer, picking away at our grass to find things for our salads and nibbling as they go...people would look at us like we are nuts...but there is much to be taken from nature that is edible!
:0)

littlebird said...

here here i'm a dandelion lover too, although i think i enjoy the dandelion clocks even more so! Who could dislike a pretty plant with so many uses, both culinary and medical. YAY for weeds, i say : )

Anonymous said...

i agree with you one hundred percent about wild flowers being beautiful. And especially dandelions - I love them too and just can't bring myself to mow over those "shining suns".

What I also adore is the wild poppy which is sprouting it's cheeky red face all along bits of field in Austria.

In South Africa the fields get blessed with the cosmos.

Aimee Dars said...

Lovely flowers!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I just love all the photos of the flowers!

I hope all is going well with you. Your blog looks great!

Sew Bettie said...

I love the wildflowers too.

tattytiara said...

I was going to say you are not alone, and that there was a wonderful thread in the Etsy forums awhile back where a veritable parade of posters defended the noble dandelion, but I see the other commenters here have already joined in solidarity!

geoff said...

And another late supporter of the Wildflower, its only 3 months late, sorry, only just stumbled upon your blog!
Thought I'd send in a Dandelion pic I took earlier in the year, for a bit of visual support.
Keep up the good work!!!

Dandelion pic...
http://bp1.blogger.com/_YFrSc2KyWd8/SCCU4ACveXI/AAAAAAAAAqE/yATCCVCTvm0/s1600-h/D1.jpg

Relevent Post...
http://acornradio.blogspot.com/2008/05/to-walk-amongstbutterflies-following.html

Anonymous said...

How pretty! I live in the country too. I enjoy it so much!

Peldyn said...

Love those dandelions! My granddaughters were picking the leaves in my yard the other day and I was saying we could make a lovely salad out of them. They were very excited about that. The flowers make my yard look so pretty, I think.