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Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

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May Dreams Gardens

I Like To Know What Weeds I’m Pulling

August 4, 2008 By Carol Michel 18 Comments

A few years ago, seemingly out of nowhere, this weed appeared in my vegetable garden.

It likes to grow along the outside edges of the raised beds, right by the wood edging, plus in the paths and really everywhere. It’s a prostrate spreader but is fairly easy to pull up, especially if you use a Cape Code Weeder or short-handed Cobrahead.

I should know, as I pulled a lot of it today, mostly with the Cobrahead.

And I still have a lot of it to pull. So if anyone can give it a name, I’d be grateful, because I like to know the names of the weeds I’m pulling.

Who knows, it might be one of those edible weeds like chickweed (Stellaria media), dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) and purslane (Portulaca oleracea).

Oh, and add plaintain (Plantago major) to the list of supposedly delicious, edible weeds. My aunt sent me an email saying that she read in their local paper that plaintain is high in vitamin C and can be eaten when the leaves are young, either cooked or in salads. It is supposed to taste like mushrooms.

But I’ll never know because I don’t plan to try it.

Even though I don’t have a ripe tomato yet and my squash plants are kaput from the squash borers and the cucumbers are mostly bitter, I’m not hungry enough, yet, to eat the weeds.

*****

Supposedly weeds tell you something about your garden, about the soil. I think my weeds are telling me, “get out here and weed, even us weeds are feeling all crowded out by each other“.

And in addition to the weeds telling me stuff, I felt like the sunflowers were watching me work out there, too.


But I wasn’t intimidated by the sunflowers, I just kept humming along, embracing the weeding, thinking about what the weeds teach us.

I did do a lot of weeding today, and got about half of the vegetable garden cleaned up. So if you go out there to see it, turn to the left, that’s the half that I’ve weeded. I’ll finish the rest up through the week.

If you want to see my mystery weed up close, turn to the right, there’s still a lot of it to see.If you want my gratitude, tell me what this weed is!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: annuals, humor, vegetable garden, weeds

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Annie in Austin says

    August 4, 2008 at 3:17 am

    I have no idea what the weed is called, Carol, but am glad to see you’ve joined MSS in allowing plants with Googly Eyes to play in your garden!

    We have chickweed and purslane but I’ve not seen Plantain sown here. I actually had to think about it for a minute to get a mental image…which has shocked me a little.

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    August 4, 2008 at 3:38 am

    I don’t know what that weed is either, but I have my fair share of chickweed and purslane. Then there is the random grass that appears after a downpour. The sunflower with the googly eyes is a good touch, lol.

    Reply
  3. Carol Soules says

    August 4, 2008 at 4:03 am

    Love your humor! I don’t know what this weed is either but will be interested to see if others do. If it is edible, I think with the price of food rising you may have a crop to take to market!

    I am just back from touring 4 private gardens in the Southern Berkshires and am chocked full of inspiration…. for another year!!
    Hope your summer is going well.
    Carol in Mass.
    terranovadesign.blogspot.com

    Reply
  4. EAL says

    August 4, 2008 at 4:42 am

    There are some wild milkweeds that kind of look like that, but I dunno.

    A god wildflower book might tell you as I do not think they differentiate between weeds and wildflowers and they are organized by color and shape.

    Reply
  5. MA says

    August 4, 2008 at 4:46 am

    Could even be some kind of polygonium or knot weed.

    LOVE that goofy sunflower that’s ‘stalking’ you.

    MA

    Reply
  6. Priscilla George says

    August 4, 2008 at 5:55 am

    I’m going to say knotweed. That is the closest thing I found to what you have but the leaves don’t look quite the same. Goodluck.

    Reply
  7. Kitt says

    August 4, 2008 at 7:50 am

    I had a similar conundrum recently and found the answer through Name That Plant at GardenWeb. You upload your picture or point to your blog post there, and someone will give you the answer, often within minutes.

    Love the sunflower!

    Reply
  8. Frances, says

    August 4, 2008 at 4:24 pm

    Hi Carol, you are in tune with your weeds, it seems. Like you, I don’t feel like eating them either. There is enough to eat without resorting to eating the enemy. Try Nan Ondra at Hayefield for an ID. She can identify any plant!

    Reply
  9. Lisa Blair says

    August 4, 2008 at 6:21 pm

    I wish I knew because this weed loves my front porch bed. Comes up all in my lantana. I’ve been wondering what it is for a few years now.

    I’ll see if I can figure out what it is.

    Reply
  10. Gail says

    August 4, 2008 at 7:29 pm

    Again with the disappearing comments! It was clever, too, maybe my best one! I have this weed in my garden…I don’t think it’s a knotweed the flower looks wrong. BTW that flower seems to morph almost immediately into seed. But I would love to know it’s name…that way I can say goodbye to it as I yank it out.

    Reply
  11. Lisa Blair says

    August 4, 2008 at 7:44 pm

    Here we go… Is it eclipta (false daisy)?

    http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/139580/

    http://www.missouriplants.com/Whiteopp/Eclipta_alba_page.html

    Reply
  12. Joanne says

    August 4, 2008 at 8:44 pm

    omg, had to laugh at that sunflower. Some plants will do anything for attention 🙂

    Reply
  13. Cindy, MCOK says

    August 5, 2008 at 2:24 am

    I recognize the weed. It took up residence in the daylily bed and rose bed earlier this year. I’ve since found it in one of the small beds in back. A pox upon it, I say!

    Reply
  14. Anonymous says

    August 5, 2008 at 4:49 pm

    I’m with you! I’m trying to compile a brief profile and photos of ALL the weeds in my neck of the woods, and here’s my start:
    http://www.sustainable-gardening.com/WeedsInGarden.php

    Reply
  15. Unknown says

    August 6, 2008 at 4:12 am

    The weeds don’t creep me out nearly as much as that sunflower, Carol! lol.

    Reply
  16. Kylee Baumle says

    August 7, 2008 at 12:12 am

    I’ve got that weed, too, but I don’t know what it is. Thankfully, it’s easy to pull out. I’ve got the sweet clover, too (with the yellow flowers).

    Reply
  17. Carol Michel says

    August 8, 2008 at 2:15 am

    Thanks all for the comments! And thanks to Lisa Blair for identifying this weed as False Daisy, Eclipta prostrata

    Carol, May Dreams Gardens

    Reply
  18. Anonymous says

    October 29, 2008 at 8:45 pm

    So did you EVER figure out what it was??? And more importantly, how to get rid of it??? I think I have it too. Does your weed have a bulb-type middle underground and then long fingerling roots?

    Reply

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