Comments on: A short definition of weeds

By: lekhni

lekhni — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:52:38 +0000

Vijay: I wish someone would offer to take my weeds away too Someone should start a weed exchange program on the Net. I can give them my dandelions and get zinnias instead

Amit: If only…I do feel nostalgic about gardens in my childhood, when we would grow cabbages and plaintains, and all kinds of fruits (custard apple, mango and so on) in our own garden.

By: Amit

Amit — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:14:52 +0000

Now that I’m in my second year of using a raised bed to grow vegetables, I think strategically-placed raised beds should be the new lawns – what with rising food prices.

By: Vijay

Vijay — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:26:11 +0000

@Lekhni: Good comparison.. Pedigree dogs vs the “Kanthri” ones…
Do you remember Bangalore had a lot of Parthenium weeds at one time?.. they grew everywhere…. somewhere along the way people started using it in construction (to provide an additional temporary layer while roofing)… Dont see that many now…

By: lekhni

lekhni — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 03:00:15 +0000

Sujatha: That was funny! I am impressed you know the names of so many weeds, though. As it is, I have just started to learn the names of my perennials. I can now say words like “Achillea” and “Agastache” without looking stupid. But kudzu, no, I have not yet graduated to knowing what kudzu is, or even how to pronounce it.

manuscrypts: I knew you guys would immediately go on the wrong track

Dipali: That’s so true about the “plants are what you pay..” quote. And you’re right, weeds are in the eyes of the beholder, like beauty. A lot of weeds are quite beautiful, and if I didn’t know they were “weeds”, I’d happily grow flower beds full of them..

Candadai: You are right, the biggest sin of dandelions (and a lot of other things in life) is that they are too “common”. It’s like how mongrels are much more loyal and healthy than many pedigree dogs..

Vijay: That’s very interesting. Do you think weeds only grow when they grow on their own? So our cultivated plants are finicky precisely because we pamper them? That’s certainly a possibility in the case of the pedigree dogs I mentioned earlier. Growing wild probably encourages only the fittest weeds to survive, I guess.

By: Vijay

Vijay — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:03:00 +0000

Corrolory: The minute you find use for a “weed”.. it becomes difficult to grow…
I remember the cacti type weed that used to grow along the road from Bangalore to Mysore… it disappeared after someone found that the fibers were strong and were useful… attempts to “cultivate” it failed.

By: Candadai Tirumalai

Candadai Tirumalai — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:39:08 +0000

I agree with you about the attractiveness of dandelions.
Some other things are unjustly condemned or rooted out merely for being “common”.

By: dipali

dipali — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 04:34:56 +0000

One man’s weed is another man’s prize plant!
I like your definitions:)
Truly, plants are what you pay to get, weeds what you pay to get rid of.
Robert Fulghum is a kindred soul- ‘weeds are in the eyes of the beholder’.
(from All I Really Need to Know I Learned In Kindergarten)

By: manuscrypts

manuscrypts — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:47:24 +0000

oh, not the smoking kind :p

By: Sujatha

Sujatha — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:07:38 +0000

Totally sympathize with you on the”If I see a sapling and I do not know what it is, I pull it up.”
I’m running into a severe inability to tell the difference between weeds and desired plants on a recently weed-whacked and mulched area in our yard- it could be some of my daffodil/hyacinth/iris/daylily bulbs or dahlias, or it could be fleabane and kudzu. I will have to wait till the flowers are out to determine whether to pull them out.
Judging from the way my Canada thistles are outstripping my teenager’s height, I ought to enter them in a competition for the ‘Best Growing Weeds on the Planet’, If only someone would oblige and announce one.