an unexpected appearance

I haven't had the privilege to read any Winnie the Pooh books; but I have come across a quote I like that is attributed to Pooh’s friend Eeyore. Allegedly, he said: “Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.”

I have gotten to know quite a few weeds on a more or less friendly basis. I have always liked dandelions, ever since I was a child. As an adult I still think they make a lawn more interesting. And what would late summer roadsides be without blankets of blue chicory and white Queen Anne’s lace?

But try as I may to be carefree and kind, some weeds just don’t make the grade, especially when they overrun the beds of cultivated flowers in your garden. So at some point even the most casual of gardeners feels the need to join in the eternal battle of nature vs cultivation, and get out in the yard to do some old fashioned dirty old back-breaking weed pulling.

Unfortunately, sometimes it’s hard to know what’s what, especially when you're still new to the field, and the gardens you inherit from previous owners is a hodgepodge mix of who-knows-what. Last year we diligently kept one of our flower beds clear of weeds. This year, that particular spot got neglected in the sping, and one of the apparent weeds started to grow some leaves that were prettier than expected. I said to Roger, I think that’s a weed, but why don’t we just let it grow and see what it ends up looking like? The plant expanded with surprising speed and grew to a broad patch, and, lo and behold, by late summer, flower stalks appeared. We discovered we had a perennial we didn’t know we had, one we had essentially subdued to dormant roots all last season, and a plant which were previously not even familiar. This is a Japanese Anenome: