Monday, September 13, 2010

The prettiest weed in my garden

My landscaping philosophy is very simple: if it's green, it's good. Anything green stays, unless it's locoweed or has sharp edges. So when this weed sprouted, even though it was right in front of the porch gate, it met my criteria of being green and good and I did not yank it out.


Post-processing: 1. Removed sensor dust spots with patch tool. 2. PW's Boost action at 45%.


In six weeks, it has grown from a tiny sprout to a 4-foot high bush full of bright, happy, screaming yellow flowers.



Pretty soon I'm going to need a machete to get onto the porch, but so be it.



It makes me smile whenever I go out to see the girls and serves as a lovely backdrop for chick pix.

27 comments:

  1. What beautiful flowers/color, and what a perfect place for it to grow.

    I have a similar flower that grows along the edge of my woods this time of year and I love it and the color it brings when most things are dying off.

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  2. Color coordination courtesy of Mother Nature. You couldn't have planned that better.

    Liked the pie festival pix yesterday, too.

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  3. I agree with your philosophy. Anything that makes me happy when I look at it . . . stays.

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  4. Add to that criteria: anything native and drought-tolerant is good. Looks like your pretty flower bush hits all the high points.

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  5. It has always amazed me how we can call one a flower and another a weed. Riding horses through the woods I see more beautiful plants than those in my yard.
    Great pictures

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  6. Dunno, I bet there are plenty of gardeners who would love to have such a healthy, easy patch of color next to their porch!

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  7. I love wild flowers and these are beautiful. I especially love the last pic with the girls! Your photos are lovely and I'm a little envious of your life... :)

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  8. Your 'weeds' are beautiful. I love the bit of blue (bench) in the background to set off the yellows.

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  9. My motto is if it blooms, and won't kill anything else in my garden, it stays!

    Love how it makes such a great chicken pix background! :)

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  10. Beautiful photo and beautiful wildflower. It looks kind of like New Mexico sunflowers that is what I called them anyway when I would see them along the road although eastern Oregon has them too. I don't really differentiate between wildflowers and what some call weeds. If it's pretty like queen anne's lace, I like to let it go and sometimes photograph it.

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  11. When I moved to the hill country I was STUNNED that people pulled weeds. I came from the "it's alive, let it go" desert horticulture school.

    They are lovely. I'm sure you can arrange to get to the porch from a front window or something. :)

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  12. Beautiful! I don't think they look like weeds at all. I'd keep them too. After all who's to say what's a weed and what's a flower. If it's pretty and it grows I say let it be.

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  13. I have always found mother nature to be a so much better gardner than me!

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  14. Beautiful pictures of the girls and your new flowering plant. Boy those girls are looking very "full" and healthy. :)

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  15. By the third picture I was thinking "Pretty Flower ... Goes well with Chickens". Then I scrolled another inch and you said so yourself. Also goes well with the colour of the porch railing. Definitely a keeper !

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  16. It looks a bit like helenium - let me google around about. Maybe it's native. Very beautiful.

    Do you just live with your dust spots and P'shop them out all the time? I have two that are driving me around. the. bend.

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  17. Possibly Helenium autumnale (autumn sneezeweed!) :-) ?

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  18. I'm with you. I don't know who officially decided what was a weed and what wasn't. I'll let anything grow that looks pretty.

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  19. "Weed" is in the eye of the beholder, and you have too much beauty in your soul to consider these lovely flowers weeds! And your chicks are beautiful!!

    Nancy in Iowa

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  20. Marie, thanks for figuring out what my yellow bush might be. I'll go give it the sneeze test.

    And I'm living with the dust spots for now ... but you've just given me a great idea for a blog post. Thanks again!

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  21. Lovely; the last photo looks like the hen is wearing flower slippers!

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  22. I think weeds are the plants you DON'T want.

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  23. have you identified it? we must know!

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  24. I share your landscaping philosophy. And can I just say that those yellow flowers are so HAPPY!! and the fact that they grew and grew and grew is such a HAPPY thing! and thanks for sharing them b/c I needed something HAPPY on this grouchy Monday :)

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  25. Being a lifelong city girl who nevertheless loves all animal tales I have to ask about your twitter the other day. What is it chickens do to be naughty?

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  26. PamG, naughty chickens peck at the hands (and clothes and shoes and legs) that feed them. Shame on them.

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