New Friend

Straggler Daisy

I’m going to naturalize another weed to a role in the garden. Although, I doubt the plant will have any idea what’s going on. It will put down roots and grow. This time it’s the straggler daisy, a pervasive, low growing plant with tiny, tiny yellow flowers. It’s going to be a ground cover, which is what it wants to do anyhow. Right now, it’s in the garden beneath the big oaks, and I think it will work out fine.

My next job, as it relates to the daisy, will be to determine how much ground it will cover and where. After all, I have other plants that have already staked out their territories and may be unappreciative of an invader of their space. Besides, the daisy is also out in the ground in front of the big oaks in what I loosely call, my yard. Loosely, because it is a mixture of grass and weeds. The only difference between it and a field is that I mow it all the time. No suburban garden club would think it a good thing.

Luckily, I’m at the age where I no longer feel the need to prove anything to anyone, garden clubs or otherwise. I’m relatively happy with my station in life and my yard. I long ago apologized to those who needed apologies for things I’d done. And now I’m out here simply trying to live an unobtrusive life. A little sticker on my steering wheel says, stay calm, and on my whiteboard in the kitchen, I’ve written, be kind and generous. This may sound odd, but that’s why I’ve decided to let the straggler daisy have a go in the garden. It may temporarily be my ground, but I have a feeling the daisy has been here before. So, we’re going to live and let live, and see how we get on together.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale