Good weeds for your property

It's interesting that some plants people find on their property referred as "weeds" have such a poor reputation. Though perhaps not welcome in our manicured vegetable or walk gardens, these plants play a very valuable role for animals such as insects. When in flower pollinators depend on them, and whether in flower or not the food they provide for munching bugs allow beneficial parasitic insects looking for hosts to thrive. These parasites find their way to your vegetable plants and control many of the unwanted bugs there. All of this works well because so many of our weeds are native to our area, along with the bugs that use them. This contrasts with some vegetables and ornamental plants we put in our gardens. The native plant-bug dance has been going on for a very long time!

Tall goldenrod and jewel weed