Clasping Venus's Looking Glass gets its name from its clasping leaves and its shiny seeds, but the purple star-shaped flowers take the cake. It makes a lovely filler in the landscape and is visited by a variety of pollinators. Photo by Amanda Bratcher
An old embroidered pillow sits on a rocking chair in the corner of the living room. It was inherited from a great aunt who spent the time to stitch these gentle words, “May all your weeds be wildflowers.” Two little girls dressed in long dresses and prairie hats bend down into the grass with handfuls of flowers. Idyllic, sure.
In our modern society, however, you’d be hard-pressed to find that scene. We have become obsessed with a tidy, orderly look, and we are paying the price in flowers. If we want to bring back the lightning bugs and butterflies of our childhoods, we have to reconsider what we are really cutting down. Is it a weed, or a wildflower?
Conundrum: We want the wildflowers, not the weeds
Every year, I get requests for how to establish a “wildflower meadow.” My advice is often surprisingly simple: reduce mowing.
Folks usually envision a sea of bright, hot-colored flowers—the kind of "superbloom" you might see on an alpine mountaintop. But our Southeastern growing season is a marathon, not a sprint. Those bright "calendar" flowers often bloom quickly and struggle in our humid summers, finding it impossible to compete with the native plants that invariably come to stifle them. Instead of fighting nature to create a Western-style meadow, we should look at what our North Carolina soil is already trying to grow.
Old-Field toadflax has a small, dainty flower, but this is a nectar and pollen powerhouse in the spring for small bees. It makes some of the old fields look purple too! Photo by Amanda Bratcher
What is a "weed," anyway?
In the world of horticulture, a weed is simply a plant growing where it isn't wanted. It is a matter of perspective. If a plant is native, supports local pollinators, and isn't physically damaging your home, is it really in the "wrong" place?
There are some characteristics you can look for to evaluate whether you should keep a volunteer plant, or not. The first question is: “is it an invasive species?” This is the true "weed." Plants like Chinese Privet or Japanese Stiltgrass provide little ecological value and actively kill our native landscape. Those should always go. The next is if you see bees or butterflies visiting a "weed," it’s a wildflower. There is a potential that it might even be a host plant! Many of our native "weeds" are the only thing certain caterpillars can eat or certain bee species will harvest pollen from.
Where can the wildflowers live on your property?
You don't have to let your front yard turn into a jungle to make a difference. If you want to try less mowing, let areas on the edge of the property go two or three months without mowing. It is reasonable to mow areas where children and pets play, so it is easy to see and manage where they are. You will find some of the wildflowers will come back on their own. and you will also see more lightning bugs and butterflies, as well (as long as you do not spray for mosquitoes).
Pro-Tip: If you are worried about mosquitoes on your property, skip the broadcast sprays, which kill the "good bugs" too. Try a "Bucket of Doom" (a GAT trap) instead to target mosquitoes specifically without harming your wildflowers. This uses a Bacteria dunk that targets the larvae of mosquitoes. Check out our Lee County website to learn more about how to build one!
Gnaphaliums have beautiful silvery foliage and are a host plant for a few native butterflies. Photo by Amanda Bratcher
Wildflowers we are conserving at the Extension Office
We practice what we preach! At the Lee County Extension Office, we purposefully leave these three "beauties" in our beds and lawn edges. Here is why they deserve a second look:
Canada Toadflax (Nuttallanthus canadensis)- Also known as Old-field Toadflax or Blue Toadflax If you’ve ever noticed an ethereal, pale-purple "mist" over a sandy field in April or May, you’ve met Toadflax. It features incredibly slender, upright stems topped with delicate, two-lipped flowers. The blooms are a soft violet with white "throats" that act as nectar guides for tiny native bees. This plant is an early-season specialist. Because it thrives in the sandy, disturbed soils common in parts of Lee County, it provides one of the first reliable nectar sources for small pollinator species before the heavier summer flowers arrive. Its wispy structure means it won't crowd out your other plants; it simply dances between them.
Clasping Venus’s Looking-glass (Triodanis perfoliata)- This is a plant that rewards the curious gardener who is willing to get down on their knees for a closer look. It is famous for its "clasping" leaves—round, scalloped leaves that hug the stem so tightly they form little green cups. Inside these cups sit brilliant, deep-purple, star-shaped flowers. Interestingly, this plant produces two types of flowers. The ones at the bottom are "closed" (cleistogamous) and self-pollinate, while the showy ones at the top wait for insects. Its common name comes from its tiny, shiny seeds that early botanists thought resembled the polished metal hand-mirrors (looking-glasses) of the past.
Cudweed (Gnaphalium /Gamochaeta)- Don’t let the "weed" in its name fool you! This plant is an essential member of a living landscape, and it’s one of my personal favorites for its unique texture. Cudweed is easily identified by its velvety, silver-gray foliage. The leaves are covered in tiny white hairs that give it a felt-like appearance and protect the plant from the drying NC sun. This is the primary host plant for the American Lady butterfly. If you look closely at a patch of Cudweed, you might see tiny "silk nests" where the caterpillars have tucked themselves away to feed. It stays low to the ground and is surprisingly tolerant of being walked on. It provides a soft, silvery alternative to the standard green lawn and is far easier to manage than more aggressive, non-native groundcovers.
Let’s Grow Together
This season, I challenge you to look at your lawn through the lens of my great-aunt’s pillow. Stop seeing "accidents" in your grass and start seeing a native landscape trying to heal itself. When we leave the Toadflax for the bees, the Venus’s Looking-glass for the stars, and the Cudweed for the butterflies, we aren't just "not mowing"—we are gardening with and for nature.
Get in Touch!
Amanda Bratcher is the horticulture agent with N.C. Cooperative Extension- Lee County Center. You can reach out to the office at 919-775-5624 for more information or questions regarding this article, but also any other questions about your garden, farm, land or plants! We’re here to help! You can check out our website's events page for more information and to register for upcoming programs.
