One Man’s Flower is Another Man’s Weed
By Urban Thought on July 6, 2007 @ 7:46 am
MOM: Come on, let’s go!
CHILD: But I want to play with the flowers.
MOM: They’ll be here when you get back.
If you could only see the joy in this child’s face as he was playing in the grass, messing with what he thought to be flowers.
If you never made it out of the ghetto you too would think it was a flower. If you own a home in the suburbs you’d consider it a weed. Yes, it’s every gardener’s favorite friend, the dandelion.
When the dandelions sprouted out of the ground you knew that summer was here and it was time to play outside. Growing up in the PJ’s during my youth, we would pick these “flowers” and make bouquets to give to moms when she got home (I know it’s cheesy but I was young). Of course my mother knew it was just a weed and told me, “I appreciate you doing it but don’t ever bring me a weed another day in your life.” The very next day we went to the ultimate garden. You know which one that is right? The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. If you ever want to learn about flowers that would be the place to go. They have every one of them you can possible think about growing out of the ground in such a busy city. I had a field day just learning about plants.
In another life I would have been a horticulturalist. When I returned to the place I called home I’d hang out in the big field (big green patch with trees and bushes). I never went inside the apartment empty handed. Let me mother tell it and she’d say, “you used to bring a bunch of leaves in the house and just start looking up the tree types and then you’d never shut up about it.”
I have a thing for the outdoors. What can I tell you? I love nature. Always have.
This is the perfect time for anyone to take the time to appreciate the many places in the big city. Instead of that little boy thinking those dandelions are flowers he needs to take a trip to the Botanical Gardens.
Another place to go would be the Bronx Zoo. This way he won’t sit there thinking the rats, squirrels, and pigeons he comes across are the only animals out there. Another cool place would be the New York Aquarium. I’m sure that gold fish he has at home in that little bowl wouldn’t come close to anything he may discover at the Aquarium.
I thank moms for not letting me lead a sheltered life. I only made that mistake once and she set me straight.
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I was just thinking about the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens! Well, not quite – but you mentioned (on my site) that you went to the Bronx stables and I thought, is it the Bronx or Brooklyn that has the botanical gardens? I was in NYC hmm, July 2005 and going to the gardens (I love botanical gardens) was on the list.
That is so sweet your brought your mom flowers. I gave my mom the same kinda bouquet – dandelions and Oxalis. If I was lucky I’d find sweet alyssum, nastursiums and forget-me-nots.
Of course now I know not to blow off the dandelion seeds! But I WANT to!
I took a few botany classes myself as well as this plant ID class. Yeah, it was very cool to learn about the flowers and trees around me.
There’s beauty to be found in those sidewalk cracks and between bricks. Have you ever looked at moss? I love how it comes out after a rain and then you have these bright green mini-landscapes and if you look even closer, that landscape has “trees” (the moss flowers or whatever).
Ms. Q: The Bronx is the home of the The New York Botanical Garden. Maybe that is the one you’ve heard or been to?
Moss? I’ve always liked moss because of the color at the base of the tree. From my Boy Scout days I believe Moss was used as a navigation tool. It only grows on one side of the tree or something like that. I have to look it up.
As you said, the rain brings out a new side of moss. I used to go camping every summer and I’ve always liked going camping after the rain just to explore what has emerged from out of the ground.
I really need to go camping again.
Oh how I wish I could go to New York. I’ve only been there once and my father, brother, and I couldn’t even go up the empire state building because of the storms!!
I remember playing with dandelions when I was little…Always made a wish when I blew all of it’s things off.
-Gregg
Gregg: You have to make it back to NYC soon. Most people who actually live in NYC don’t actually visit the tourist sites. I was fortunate enough to visit the towers in my youth along with the Empire State Building.
Make a wish… Yeah, I remember doing that too. Not sure what I wished for back then but if I could make a wish now…
Okay – Mr. Botanist
Can I say I laughed my ass off ’cause you made me go down memory lane on this one. My mama gave me the same grimace/smile too, but she knew I meant well. Can I say that I went far enough to wear them in my hair like I was Billie Holiday or something. . .
I never made it to either the Bronx or Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. I think it was probably the Brooklyn ones I was considering. A very good friend of mine was from Brooklyn (after she moved she slowly got rid of her accent, she was tired of people asking if she was from NY and about her “Dawg”).
When I went to NYC I got some tourist booklet – something like 6-sights for 45 bucks. I had a harbor tour, a naval ship tour, Guggenheim and MoMa museums and the Empire State Building. It rained off and on while I was there and the day I decided to tour the Empire (I hadn’t planned to but I had the pass) there was lightning so we couldn’t go out on the deck.
I used to blow the seeds off the dandelions and make a wish, too.
Yeah the botanical gardens in Brooklyn is a little oasis in the city because you can’t really have exotic plants anywhere else. I thought dandelions were “flowers” also back in the day.
Oh no! Bouquets of weeds for mom are NEVER, EVER cheesy!!!! Loved those when my kids were littler.
I guess every last one can’t be adored though – I’m sure I’ve tossed aside my fair share…
Phoenix: I can see you wearing it in your hair. And I’m sure you’ll have the outfit to match. You always know how to coordinate.
Ms. Q: You should make your way back to the city. Hopefully when the weather is more favorable.
Ricardo: It sure is. I’m going to make my way there sometime this summer. I plan on playing tourist this year. NYC has changed over the years. I can barely keep up with all that is going on.
Jill: Looking back now I thought it to be. But you’re right, being a parent puts a different spin on it.
Even kids in the country love those things you call “weeds.” In German there are even two words for them. When they’re yellow they’re “Loewenzahn”, which means something like ‘lion tooth”, and when they look like the one in the picture here, they are “Pusteblume”, which means a “flower to blow on.” The dandelion is a good thing, but so is your post.
Mark Stoneman: Very interesting. Thank you for the additional info and for stopping through.