Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The wages of neglect . . . compliments?

Along with several neglected flowerbeds, some flowerpots that formerly held thriving begonias also languish neglected by the pathway to our backdoor. I confess, I have just kept putting off replanting them.



Now they are filled with plants that I think are Oxalis, what I grew up calling sorrel. Here in our area they take over even fairly regularly maintained beds, which mine definitely are not.
Oxalis or sorrel

A recent visitor, a non-gardening elder who passed by the collection of flowerpots, paused to take a closer look at the tiny blooms. “Your flowers are so pretty!” she said.

Points of view differ on whether the delicate beauty of the blooms is evidence of an aggravating weed or a wildflower. But talk about a low-maintenance perennial!

As we walked our departing elder to her vehicle, I accepted the compliment with a “Thank you” and a smile, basking in the surprising rewards of procrastination and neglect.

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful!!! We have wood sorrell, and it looks like this. Maybe it is a wild version?

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  2. You definitely caught my interest with the phrase-"low maintenance perennial". That and pretty too. Win/win.

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  3. Oh my, when i read your post title I thought HOw did she see my house? ha a
    i am a person who loves weed flowers even more than the other. i would be saying the same thing. i like wild flowers and wilder weeds, much more than roses or lilies or cultivated flowers. keep growing and snapping

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  4. The flowers look beautiful whether they are in their supposed position or not...... I'm for enjoying what turns up.

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  5. Beautiful photograph of your little flower. I think the Oxalis flower is white, but I could be wrong. I really don't know either very well. Dianne

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