October 06, 2004
Oxeye
Close-up of an Oxeye daisy , taken about five weeks ago.
Even though I had planted some Feverview in a corner of my back garden which has thrived all summer, it is a another member of the daisy family that has made the biggest impact. It’s no mystery where the Oxeye daisy came from - it scaled the back wall along with less welcome accomplices such as thistle, nettles and docks. My neighbour is clearly not a gardener, and it was not until the weeds had reached about five foot tall that he decided to take action. About a month ago, he arrived home with a strimmer and began by cutting paths through the jungle. I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if a bedraggled stranger had stumbled out of the undergrowth with the words, “Dr Livingstone I presume”, but after an hour or so, he had levelled it (of course, it has made a good attempt at growing back in the meantime).
It was too late for me - the weeds had long gone to seed and set for pastures new (or in this case, my back garden). But there’s no cloud without a silver lining, or a bright yellow one in my case. The daisies have grown to a large clump in one of the flowerbeds; long straggly stems each with a flower as bright as a sunbeam, swaying in the breeze.
Posted by Monasette at October 6, 2004 11:33 PM