Good Weeds

Front Joe Pye Weed ( Eupatorium maculatuim), middle, Boneset ( Eupatorium perfoliatum), back, some type of Goldenrod, probably Canada Goldenrod, (Solidaga canadensis). All of these are or were used medicinally .This is a pic from last fall near the edge of one of our gardens. I have been busy this last week and didn't get a pic of any thing I was working on so I raided the pic files for this. Any time I visit a farm that is supposed to be organic I look for so call weeds at the edge of the fields. Those weeds are an important part of the eco system. In some cases they are one of the few, if not the only, host plants available for beneficial insects. If we don't have the host plant we don't have the beneficial insect. Of these three, golden rod is a great bee plant, providing a lot of pollen late in the year. Bees feed pollen to the larva so a good source of pollen is necessary to have a strong, productive hive going into the winter. I do not let any of these grow in the garden but I encourage them along the margins. Biodiversity is the keystone of a health organic farm.