As I’ve mentioned before, I generally leave one corner of the lawn somewhat wild over the summer.  (Grass refuses to grow there anyway).  At first, it was because it was infested with poison ivy.  When we eventually eliminated the poison ivy and somewhat civililzed the area, the grass was still quite sparse, so I let some of the low creeping plants (like the wild strawberries that the birds seem to like) grow in.

For a while, I’d wanted to pull up the thornbushes that seemed so similar to the multiflora rosa that we have so much of, seeing as it was just as pointy with less appealing flowers.  It took me quite a while to realize that their redeeming quality came not in their flowers, but in their fruit.  They were actually golden raspberry and blackberry vines, no doubt planted by the birds which are very fond of the area.  The vines make the area look so lush right now.

We get a good number of raspberries each year, especially considering that we got them for free and give them virtually no care.  The blackberries tend to get mutilated before they fully ripen, but the ones that do are very sweet.

Two years ago, a plant larger than most weeds appeared in the garden beds along the house in the backyard.  Nothing was growing just there, and the plant looked so beautifully symmetrical, pretty as an ornamental.  No seeds to fly all over the lawn, so I didn’t consider it a problem.  I was very surprised last summer when a tall flower stalk appeared.  I’d never figured it one for spectacular flowers, but the stalk grew to a good 3-4 feet with the flowers opening, starting at the base, in a bright magenta.  The inside of each flower was a sight in itself.

Soon, the smaller plants which had also sprouted bloomed in shorter stalks of magenta and white.  They’ve come up again this year, so I’m very excited for when they bloom in summer.  Seeing such a perfectly healthy plant makes me so happy.  🙂