“A plant whose virtues have never been discovered.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Or, as a good friend once said, “A weed is just a plant out of place.”
This year, we discovered that the wild violets, Viola papilionacea, actually support our bee populations. So, we decided not to treat them as a weed in our yard and yank them out or mow them down. Instead, we let them bloom and monitored them for important pollinator presence. There has been a lot of discussion about the lack of bumble bees in our area. Pollinators are key to food propagation and a lack of bumble bees could indicate a very serious problem in our future food supply. Therefore, if the practice of changing my perspective from weed to plant can help shift the tides of an eroding food source for our life-giving pollinators, then I say “Go forth and multiply dainty violets. You’re now safe in my yard.”