'What is a Weed?' with Free Illustrated Quote to Download

You are welcome to download and print or simply 'pin' this
300 dpi, A4-size illustration of Emerson's quotation if you wish

We gardeners generally think of weeds as ‘the enemy’, something to root out and hopefully banish forever from our flower beds and vegetable patches.

But years ago I heard the saying:

‘A weed is just a flower growing in the wrong place’ 

And that sparked my interest in how we define exactly what is a weed and what is not.

And how do we distinguish between a ‘wild flower’ and a weed?

It seems to me that the answer to both depends entirely on the context.

My little garden is full of Valerian, Mountain Cornflowers, Snow in Summer and Forget-me-nots, all flowers that some people would regard as weeds. And yet I think they’re very pretty and my garden is often admired!

And some would claim that the white flowers of the Bindweed are no less pretty than the Morning Glories to which they are closely related – they’re just growing in the wrong place!

And here's another definition -

“They’re weeds only if you don’t know how to use them” 

Some, so-called weeds are useful to anyone who knows about herbs. 

Of course, the medicinal uses for Valerian are well known. And even the dreaded dandelions that plague the little green-ish patch I pretentiously call my 'lawn', have some medicinal properties, including use as a diuretic, though I'm definitely not recommending you try them!

Why else would the French name for the Dandelion be ‘Pis-en-lit’ (English Piss-a-bed)? 

NOT my lawn but the grass verges around the
Fire Station on the opposite side of the road -
obviously the source of my healthy dandelion crop!

And of course, where would we be without the dandelions in Dandelion and Burdock, a top favourite with me as a child, though I think synthetic flavourings have replaced the real things these days! 


Here's yet another 'weed' quotation/definition -

“A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for having learnt to grow in rows.” Doug Larson.

A particularly healthy-looking weed I spotted
by the roadside!

A solitary Green Alkanet grew in an alley or 'loke', as they call them in Norfolk, and I passed it daily on the way to my screenprinting workshop, back in the 1980s. I was so taken by the way its tiny, brilliant blue flowers contrasted with the large green leaves and the pattern they made as they increased in size towards the ground, that one day I decided to sketch it. 

All these years later, I've used that sketch to persuade the Green Alkanet into 'rows' in this repeating pattern!

I’m afraid that by this last definition, if I were a plant, I’d almost certainly be a weed! 

How about you?

Finding Art on your Doorstep

Doodled beginnings of an illustration of the Emerson quote

“Art is not to be found by touring to Egypt, China or Peru; if you cannot find it at your own door, you will never find it.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Some twelve years ago I decided to see how I got on with trying to sell my pastel paintings, in effect ‘coming out’ as an artist. 

When I told a friend about this, her immediate, excited reply was to tell me how lucky I was because this would mean that I could go to Venice. Although Venice is one of the few places I would love to spend some time, I was totally at a loss to see the connection between trying to make a living from my art and going to Venice. 

I still am – and I was delighted to come across Emerson’s quote because it expresses my own approach to art. I don’t believe that we need to travel to find inspiration; for me at least, inspiration can strike at any moment, no matter where I am or how familiar or apparently 'ordinary' my surroundings.

I might suddenly notice the play of the light on the lace curtains in my bedroom –

- or, probably more often, something outdoors, in my local area or especially in my little garden, simply begs me to paint it or to make it the basis of a pattern or greeting card design:

Lipstick Pink Roses

Periwinkles

Mother's Day Card - 'Tulips'
   

Tulips in the park I cross each time I go shopping

So, over the coming months, I plan to introduce you to the ‘art’ that I've found ‘at my own door’ – or perhaps just a little bit further afield - beginning, tomorrow, with some Roses at Christmas:

PS By trial and error, I've learnt a valuable tip today! Next time I attempt to illustrate a quotation, I'll definitely make things much easier for myself if I put the text in place first and illustrate around it!

.......

Click

HERE

for some of the

Gifts and Greetings for Gardeners

that I've designed