How about a weed walk?
My husband Don and I have gone on some fun walks in which I began picking weeds for a bouquet! The first was in the snow in Pennsylvania. A very memorable walk was in Scotland. After drinking my Scotch samples, and his, in the Glenlivet tasting room, he was wandering a little, unable to drive back to our condo on the very narrow Scottish country roads. In luck, we walked a few yards to the start of The Smuggler’s Trail. This was in September in the Scottish highlands. The trail took us through farm fields, with cattle grazing, past the ruins of Drumin Castle, in the intermittent drizzle and sun; in total about 5 miles. I ended up along streams and villages with an amazing bouquet of native grasses and wildflowers, many of which I recognized as the native beginnings of flowers we love to buy in nurseries.
What should you pay attention to?
Make sure you know (1) that you are not picking plants in a dedicated park and (2) you know that you are not picking something nasty, like poison oak, which is toxic. I did this once and had the worst case of poison oak that sent me to the doctor.
Enjoy the wildflowers!
The finish, my message is this: learn to identify and enjoy the wildflowers (and weeds!) wherever you are and whatever season it is, and know that even “weeds” can make stunning bouquets for continued enjoyment and special memories.
So what is the difference between weeds and wildflowers?
Maybe weeds are in a wild place and have short-lived flowers. Or maybe weeds are just flowers that are wild. Or…..
A walk this past August yielded queen anne’s lace, dock, grasses, wild oats, anise, and a pretty yellow flower shown at the bottom. Let’s look at some of what we picked and then we’ll look at what you can do with “just weeds”!
Here’s a bouquet done with all the weeds, a nice contrast with the mina lobata reaching out of an Italian beer bottle.
Here’s a bouquet done with the chicory
“The bouquet on the left was done with all the weeds, a nice contrast with the mina lobata reaching out of an Italian beer bottle. The bouquet on the right takes advantage of the chicory’s blue flowers. “
I talked above about knowing what you’re picking and not picking anything toxic. I sent my husband out to pic this attractive yellow flower along-side the road and up against a fence. He came back to the car complaining and I later agreed and throw them out. The stalks were extremely sticky. Does anyone know what plant this is? I couldn’t verify the name, so if anyone knows, please go to the contact us tab on the website and let me know.