What are considered 'wild' flowers in the worlds gardens?

Dandelions can be pesky, but look at their flowers! I belong to a gardeners group based in the UK, but it has members from across the globe. Today there was the picture which I have copied below, with a question by a member asking if the flowers and plants were ‘wild’ and if they need to be pulled out and relegated to the compost heap. The responses were so controlled and commendable. “ Depends on what you consider wild, they look like perfectly beautiful flowers,” said one.

Is this a weed asked one gardener! Another said, “ The birds and bees would love the flowers for their nectar and pollen, so why destroy them?” Others said “ It is a weed, pull it out before it spreads.” I felt the same. Today the world is waking up to the common concept of what are considered weeds in a garden and how wild flowers and gardeners understand that weeds are actually food for the birds and bees and nature at large. This is an important part of the circle of life and could not have been included by the creator, if not to be part of it.

Delicate and dainty and considered a weed! My little grand- daughters woke me up to this concept of looking at weeds with a more benign eye. They just could not understand why Grandma and Dad spent so much time weeding and taking out the prettiest flowers in the garden! Pure white daisies, golden yellow dandelions, delicate pink Impatiens, the reddish or white scented clover, the golden buttercups. They found the flowers lovely and did not understand our adult need to remove what we called ‘weeds’. Now there is a new wave sweeping the world where gardeners are asked to have at least one ‘wild’ area in their gardens for the bees and birds to enjoy. And so many are even buying what are called ‘wild’ flower packs and sowing them in one section of their gardens, to attract the bees and butterflies.

Love 'em white daisies which pop up all over lawns in the UK It takes me back to when I was a child and our garden here in Hayes road was a beautiful rumble-tumble of plants, where scores of butterflies and bees flitted all day. Instead now the roadside flowering beds have the flowers we enjoyed in our garden. Ours is manicured and boring, which the dogs anyway destroy with their pee, allowed by nasty pet owners.The joys of community living. Reading up on the various ‘weeds,’ the first one I read up on was the Dandelion. They are a family of flowering plants that grow in many parts of the world. You may be most familiar with the dandelion as a stubborn weed, that never seems to leave your lawn or garden. I have taken out over 250 plants over a month in my son’s garden in Tennessee.

The beautiful red clover which grows wild in the US The name dandelion is taken from the French word “dent de lion” meaning lion's tooth, referring to the coarsely-toothed leaves. Dandelions have one of the longest flowering seasons of any plant and their seeds are often carried as many as 5 miles from their origin. Botanists consider dandelions to be herbs and people use the leaves, stem, flower, and root of the dandelion for medicinal purposes. The common daisy is also known as the lawn daisy and the English daisy. Hundreds of them grow in the UK on my sons lawns, both up front and back and in all parks and gardens sprinkling their emerald green lawns with specks of white. And, like the Dandelion my son there dislikes them. I am rather partial to the pretty white flower, The flower is born on a long flower stalk, which rises above the base rosette of leaves. The leaves grow close to the ground and are spatulate, or spoon-shaped. Like the dandelion they leave a hole when I pull them out ‘cause of the spreading leaves.

The pretty little buttercup which can be found across the UK Another favourite of mine in the UK is the buttercup, which is a herbaceous perennial. The first time I saw the delicate, golden-yellow cup-shaped flowers in my sons garden I just fell in love with their delicate beauty. They belong to the ranunculus family, which has around 400 species of flowers, however, the most popular one among this family is the five-petal, bright yellow buttercup which is considered ‘wild’. When I spent four months in Tennessee, helping with my little grandson Aiden who was suffering from repeated ear infections, he loved spending time in the back garden pulling out the clover flowers growing on the lawn and running up on his fat little legs, to give them to me, with a huge smile. Several species of clover are extensively cultivated as fodder plants. The most widely cultivated clovers are white clover, and the red clover. Gown in the agricultural areas as fodder for the cattle, it grows freely, shooting up again after repeated mowings; which annoys my son no end! However, it is palatable to and nutritious for livestock; it fixes nitrogen, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers; and it grows in a great range of soils and climates; and is appropriate for either pasturage or green composting. No wonder the compost that I make in the US yields fantastic returns.

The spectacular California poppy now grown in homes as a domestic flower But what I will never forget on my trips to edit Britisher Tom Bates books in Berkeley, California was the Golden Poppy or California Poppy. This stunning flower is the California State Flower. The California Poppy is a perennial and one of the earliest wildflowers to grow in gardens. My memories emblazoned across my brain are, of California's rolling hills , set ablaze with its golden blooms. Now I have seen many homes in the UK grow them inside their gardens along with their wild scarlet poppies. So what can we call wild and weeds is my question? And my little grand daughters Alaina and Natalie nod their heads sagely, holding my hand and looking at the flowers when I visit.