wildflowers

WILDFLOWERS

“One person's weed is another person's 

  wildflower.”    ― Susan Wittig Albert,

By definition a'wildflower' is a flower of an uncultivated variety or a flower growing freely without human intervention.

There are three major groups of wildflowers in the United States.

First and most importantly are our native wildflowers. These are the native plants and flowers that have developed a special relationship with our pollinators, bees, wasps, birds, and bats. There is a strong movement to add a few native plant species to every garden.

Orange Butterfly-weed (Asclepia tuberrosa) is a native milkweed that attracts butterflies and
bumble bees into your garden.

Secondly, you can find the wildflowers from other parts of the world that have established themselves here. One of the most well-known is the dandelion. Originally from Europe dandelions have become a weed in most of the world, competing with plants, crops and lawns for nutrients, water and sunlight. On the bright side their golden yellow flowers are an early food source for bees and pollinators.

Despised by many as a annoying lawn weed, Dandelions are a wildflower
that has established itself around the world, which makes it an incredibly successful plant. 

 The third group are plants that were brought here by our early American settlers for gardens but 'escaped' into nature. They are now found in fields, roadsides, and growing in the cracks of streets. My favorite of this group is 'Queen Anne's Lace’, a member of the carrot family with lacy white flowers that bloom in mid-summer. It also attracts many native pollinators which is definitely a positive effect. Sadly the overuse of herbicides is making these plants vanish from our roadsides, only to be replaced by less attractive weeds which are much harder to kill. 

As a child growing up in the Bronx, I have fond memories of Queen Anne's Lace
blooming everywhere it could find space.

Today many roadsides have plantings of wildflowers along them for beautification. For this we owe our gratitude to former 

First Lady, Mrs. Johnson. 

Not long ago under environmental assault, wildflowers have regained the admiration
of  the American people.

Fondly called "Lady Bird", the wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson, became America's greatest advocate for native wildflowers and beautifying the nation's interstates.  It is hard to imagine how different the country looked when Mrs. Johnson began her tough campaign to beautify it.  

After the national tragedy of John F. Kennedy's assassination, with everyone' attention focused on his
wife Jackie, few Americans were aware of the work of Lady Bird
  

Many companies and corporations fought her to stop her every step of the way.

In 1965, the Johnson Administration commissioned a study that showed there were 16,000 junkyards along highways with miles after miles of billboards blocking the view. 

Corporations lobbied congress to try to stop the
American Beautification campaign.  Lady Bird lobbied congress equally as hard.

Lady Bird lobbied Congress for a law to change the scenery.  Three years later, President Johnson presented pens he used to sign about 50 laws on conservation and beautification "…to Lady Bird, who has inspired me and millions of Americans to try to preserve our land and beautify our Nation."

At 26 years old Lyndon Johnson proposed to Lady Bird on their first date.
On February 14, 2013, Johnson's Presidential Library released  the romantic love letters
written by the couple. They can be read online 

The National Park Service kept a running tab of the number of daffodil bulbs that were planted under Lady Bird's direction, and in 4 years the total reached 2 million, the largest planting in history.

At her passing eleven years ago on July 11, 2007, USA TODAY noted: "Today, many people in the conservation field say Johnson's work raised the nation's consciousness about its natural heritage and laid the foundation for the environmental progress that followed.”

Today's overuse of herbicides and insecticides  makes the protection of our native
pollinators more critical than ever before. 

"Her achievements in Washington were important for the development of the role of the First Lady, and the consistency with which she pursued her vision of the environment after the White House added to her historical influence".  (Biographer, Lewis L. Gould) 

Today most new First Ladies entering the White House appear to know that a certain amount of environmental activism is expected of them.

Thanks to the 'Lady Bird Wildflower Center', in Austin, Texas for information & photographs presented in this article.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy summer,                    

 James