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Saturday, June 8, 2024

Define a Weed

 This plant is certainly nothing wonderful, and yet I'm a total sucker for it (and most anything with big yellow flowers). This is Goatsbeard or Meadow Salsify, Tragopogon pratensis.
goatsbeard


A bunch of it has shown up in my front flower bed. Since there's a lot of empty space there, for right now it gets to keep growing. It's tall and spidery/straggly. Since it ends up with huge dandelion-balls of seeds (see second link below), if I don't pull it out, I'll be sure to keep having some. It is native, so it at least has that to recommend it.
goatsbeard


The flowers close around noon! It usually grows up in field grasses which help support it. I'm surprised the wind and rain haven't broken these off yet. I put supports on a couple of them, but the props aren't very tall.

I edited a lot today (as usual this week). My eyes are really stressed from all the screen time, but I'm reaching the panic point on my book, so I'm trying to keep going. There was no relief with gardening today. Raining and wet.

See The Yellow Flower
See Goatsbeard- the Ends of the Story

3 comments:

Ann said...

It does have a pretty flower on it.

The Furry Gnome said...

I like 'weeds'! And that one turns its face to the sun in the morning, surely something to recommend it.

Sharkbytes said...

Ann- Too bad it only opens for a couple of hours a day

Stew- it sure does... cranes its neck around the corner of the house!