• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • How to Garden
    • Seed Starting
    • Plant Profiles
    • Tools & Equipment
    • Raised Bed Gardening
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Herbs
  • About
    • Books & Classes
      • Herbalism Classes
      • Books for Christian Herbalists
      • Privacy Policy

Wildflowers in Virginia

April 11, 2009 by Jeanne

I love wildflowers. Back on Long Island, the first appearance of cornflowers along the side of Jericho Turnpike was always a sign that June was here and we were on the cusp of summertime.

Wildflowers in Virginia

As a little girl, the first dandelions, along with the budding maple trees, meant my April birthday had arrived. And I always tried to transplant wild violets when I found them in the lawn into the garden (they never, ever took!)

Yesterday, I stopped by my friend Annette’s farm to pick up chocolate Easter eggs her daughter had made and for a little visit. She took me across her fields to share the beautiful sight of hundreds and hundreds of Virginia bluebells in bloom. I’d read about Virginia bluebells, and seen photos, and I’d even bought them from a catalog and tried to add them to my garden – but they didn’t take. I wish I’d had a camera with me to capture the sight of the late afternoon sunlight slanting through the nodding blue flowers. It was like a carpet of blue against a wash of emerald leaves and grass.

Wildflowers – Nature’s Gift

Wildflowers are gifts to us. Unlike all the cultivated flowers we plant, wildflowers choose where to grow. They dictate to us what they will, and will not do. They cannot be cut and carried into the house like a tame rose or snapdragon. Instead, they wilt and suffer when stuffed into a vase and placed on a kitchen table.

Many wildflowers are also called weeds, but that’s an inelegant name for a tough flower that’s intricately woven into God’s tapestry of nature. Many wildflowers are an essential part of His plan for life; monarch butterflies need butterfly weed and milkweed, and other flowers nurture bees and birds and insects and more.

picture of trumpet vine mullein picture

 

Today my task is to weed the perennial garden. Along the dirt paths (still waiting for the slates and finishing cement I’m afraid!) there are nodding purple and white violets, my own volunteer wildflowers. I have no idea how they got there. The nearest violets are in the woods, hundreds of feet away. Whether by windblown seeds or carried on the soles of our shoes, or perhaps the pads of many tiny animal feet, the violets are providing their own show before the tame plants, such as my roses and lavender, add their colors.

And I have four boxes of wildflower seeds to sow along with the backfield, hopefully, flowers that will choose to live with us.

But they may not choose to grow there. Do you remember what they said about Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia? He’s not a tame lion.

Neither, I’m afraid, are wildflowers. They are anything but tame.

 

Filed Under: Growing Flowers

Previous Post: « Eat Your Greens – Spring Greens
Next Post: Self Seeding Tough Plants: Coreopsis Tinctoria »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Daffodil Planter

    April 18, 2009 at

    Mertensia virginica is one of my favorite flowers. I keep meaning to try them in a shady, damp spot here in CA. I have heard they are not happy outside of VA, but still…. There’s no sight like a bluebell wood.

  2. Jeanne

    April 20, 2009 at

    Daffodil Planter, the site is truly amazing. I’ve tried buying plants from catalogs but they just won’t grow here yet. I’m thinking of trying again, but planting them in our woods. Maybe they will like it better.

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

As Seen in Porch

 As Seen in Porch

We were featured in Porch.com and answered reader's questions about indoor plants.

Explore All Gardening Articles

a zucchini growing in a raised bed

Growing Zucchini in Raised Beds

kale growing in a raised bed

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

raised bed garden

How to Build a Vegetable Garden Using Raised Beds

a watering can next to a seed tray on a sidewalk

What Veggies Can I Plant Now?

Herbalism Classes & Supplies

Goods Shop by Herbal Academy – botanically inspired products

Disclosure

Home Garden Joy participates in two affiliate programs: Amazon and The Herbal Academy. Home Garden Joy earns a commission from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate. As an Herbal Academy Associate, HGJ also earns a commission when you sign up for classes or purchase herbs or supplies from The Herbal Academy. Herbal information and recipes on this site are provided for educational purposes only.

Footer

butternut squash growing in a raised garden bed

How to Grow Butternut Squash Organically

Learning how to grow butternut squash organically ensures you know how to grow this tasty, nutritious vegetable in your home garden. I’ll share with you some basic information on growing butternut squash, followed by some organic gardening tips that have been helpful for me here at Seven Oaks Farm in dealing with the various pests…

Read More

herbs in a pink dish

How to Make the Perfect Cup of Herbal Tea

Make the perfect cup of herbal tea, right from your own garden! In May, I gave two free talks on how to grow, harvest, dry, and create your very own herbal teas. This lecture proved so popular that I recorded the narration and uploaded it to YouTube. You can view it below: Supplies to Make…

Read More

tent caterpillars on a pear tree

How to Get Rid of Tent Caterpillars

I spent last Saturday morning getting rid of Eastern tent caterpillars from the apple and pear trees in the orchard here on the farm. Malacosoma americanum, the Eastern tent caterpillar, is a regular visitor each spring. We first spot the shimmery webs on a clear spring day. The small ‘tents’ built by the caterpillars quickly…

Read More

kale growing in a raised bed

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

Raised bed vegetable garden soil soil needs to be replenished periodically. If you’ve done your job right and selected great soil, and amended it with nice compost, you’re going to have super garden soil for the first few years. Because you don’t walk on a raised bed garden the way that you do with typical…

Read More

  • Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Awards

Copyright © 2025 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme