Grow Your Own Weed

Grow Your Own Weed Project

If you have Found a Wildroutes 'Grow Your Own Weed' coffee cup here's the story.
It's not what you think!
Wildroutes has been on a mission to increase Limerick's biodiversity using native plants and flowers. The seeds used are from www.wildflowers.ie and are mix WF03, Biodiversity Wildflower Meadow Mixture. This mix was especially chosen because it contains the best wildflowers to attract wildlife. It will provide nectar and pollen for insects, seeds as food for birds and small mammals and a tasty leafy snack for many other creatures in this Urban Environment.

Wildroutes always loves seeing things reused and recycled. These coffee cups were found on the streets of Limerick (if you start looking, they're everywhere) and, with a few modifications, have become ideal pots for starting seeds, and all for free.

Your weed will grow into one of the following:
Birdsfoot Trefoil, Black Meddick, Cowslip, Devil's Bit Scabious, Meadow Buttercup, Field Scabious, Hemp Agrimony, Kidney Vetch, Lady's Bedstraw, Lesser Knapweed, Marsh Ragwort, Meadowsweet, Mullein, Ox-eye Daisy, Purple Loosestrife, Ragged Robin, Red Campion, Red Clover, Ribwort Plantain, Rough Hawksbit, Sorrel, St Johnswort, Wild Angelica, Wild Carrot, Wild Parsnip, Yarrow, Yellow Agrimony, Yellow Rattle, Salad Burnet, Corn Chamomile, Corn Marigold, Corn Poppy, Corncockle, Cornflower, Scented Mayweed,

See www.wildflowers.ie for more information and photos of your plant.

It'll take a few weeks before it grows big enough for true leaves and flowers to form to help you identify it.

Care Info

Keep your plant in the Wildroutes pot in a sunny position. A window sill is fine or you can leave it outdoors. Don't over water it, once a week is fine or less if it is out in the rain.
When the plant is big enough to handle, carefully remove it from the Wildroutes pot and plant it outside being careful not to damage the roots. Plant it wherever you like! Or you can keep it for yourself in a pot, but put it in a bigger one.
No need to feed it, this is a weed, it can survive on what's already in the soil.
Wait and see what it grows in to and what wildlife it attracts. Note: it may be eaten by something!
Seeds may be saved in the Autumn to do it all again next Spring!

Please feel free to contact me if you need any more information. Also, if you like, e-mail me and send some pics to put in the ongoing galleries.

"A weed is just a plant in the wrong place."

What many gardeners consider weeds, many insects and birds consider their staple diet.Take the Dandelion. Often rooted out or spayed with weedkiller, it is generally seen as nothing more than a pesky weed.
However, herbalists consider it a valuable herb with many culinary and medicinal uses. Did you know that Dandelion is a rich source of vitamins A, B complex, C, and D, as well as minerals such as iron, potassium, and zinc. Its leaves are often used to add flavor to salads, sandwiches, and teas. The roots can be found in some coffee substitutes, and the flowers are used to make certain wines?

Bees love 'em. too. They provide an important source of nectar and pollen early in the season. Dandelions are used as food plants by the larvae of many butterfly and moth species. This makes them a very important player in the effort to maintain a healthy and bio-diverse ecosystem.

Still think it's a good for nothing weed?

What's in a Name?

This is a daffodil I came across that was growing amongst the rubbish washed up on the bank of the River Shannon. Not a place you'd expect to find a Daffodil. Does that mean that it's a weed?
(Click Image to enlarge.)

And what about Daisies? I don't know anybody who plants them but they sure do get around and nobody seems to mind. Just because they're small and cute and make fun jewelery, they're OK to have on your lawn? Not a weed?
(Click image to enlarge.)