I protect wildflowers with unbridled passion. I cringe at the thought of picking a mess of them to make a tabletop arrangement. Mowing them down to make a meadow “presentable” sends a shudder through me. Also, it is not legal in Montana to pick flowers on National Forest land or within a National Park.
When it comes to nonnative, invasive weeds, I fly to the
opposite end of the spectrum. I want to wipe them out in violent fashion. They
are challenging—and often defeating—my flowers.
This is where it gets tricky. Some “invasive weeds” are
pretty flowers.
Perhaps nothing illustrates this better than the oxeye
daisy. In Montana, it is listed as a noxious weed due to its aggressive spread
and ability to outcompete native vegetation and desirable forage species. A
single plant can produce up to 26,000 seeds, which remain viable in the soil
for years.
Oxeye daisy thrives in disturbed soils, roadsides,
pastures, meadows, and forest openings. It prefers full sun to partial shade
and can tolerate a wide range of soil types, including poor or rocky soils.
While ascending a mountain road, we came across a long
swath of daisies extending alongside the road for many yards.
“Those are pretty,” Desiree suggested.
“They are pretty, but they don’t belong here. They’re a
weed.”
“I want to pick some.
Had Desiree expressed this about a native wildflower, I
would have launched into a speech about why she couldn’t pick them. But since
we were dealing with an exotic that escaped the yard and is now tromping
through the mountains, I immediately pulled my truck off to the side of the
road, allowing a cloud of dust to settle around us.
“Pick ’em,” I said. “Get all you want.”
—Mitchell Hegman
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