There is a little private car parking area outside my son’s home through which I pass every day. Today I was weeding his driveway and, casting a glance around me, realised that the parking area is once again becoming carpeted with plant. It is not long ago that it was cleared, but weeds have reclaimed the gravelled area and painted it green.
At first glance, in an area of neat gardens and lace curtains, it just looks a bit of a mess. Unkempt and uncared for …almost derelict… in spite of the best efforts of the neighbour who has chosen to undertake its upkeep.
It takes a second glance to realise what you are really seeing; the unstoppable force that is Nature, exuberant with all the energy of summer, expressing itself in miniature.
These are not ‘just weeds’… they are wildflowers and garden escapees that have gone feral. Untamed Nature doing what she does best. I counted dozens of different varieties of grasses and flowers colonising those few square yards of urban gravel and broken concrete.
Not just any plants either…there is a veritable pharmacopeia growing there. Evening primrose, dock and nettle. Feverfew, dandelion and valerian. Violets and herb robert… and those are just the ones whose uses I know.
There are edible plants too…burdock, elder and nettles. Maybe not the best of diets, but you wouldn’t starve. And the blackberries and elderberries are particuarly lush this year.
Expectations require that certain criteria are met and when they are not, judgement or diappointment can set in all too quickly. It is very easy to see the surface and look no further. The car-park was a useful reminder to look again. Beyond our expectations, there may be more beauty than we expect.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
I really enjoyed this post, Sue. Wonderful to find life and beauty in unlikely or unusual places.
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It is always there if we take the time to look, Wendy.
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A great lesson!
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🙂
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How beautiful. Filled with hope!
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Nature just gets on with the business of life while we aren’t looking )
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I agree, I think there is so much plants can do for us, but we just kill them instead of making good use of them. Not many people know how useful plants are -especially the ones they come across everyday.
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There are so many we can use…and I do think that creating that relationship with plants brings us closer to the earth.
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Nature (thankfully) is an unstoppable force. Even though we keep trying to get in her way! 😉
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We can try… 😉
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…’til we die! 😀
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She’ll still be there after that 😉
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And then some!
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Oh yes 🙂
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Reblogged this on blogging807.
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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I am all in favour of nature doing whatever she pleases. I just wish she would leave brambles out of her remit!
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I love the brambles…in the hedgerows. NOT in the garden!
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But not in my hedgerow, please!
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Not if you have to look after it, no!
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Reblogged this on Stuart France.
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I have a book about edible plants. It’s amazing how many of what are now thought of as weeds were once cultivated for medicinal and eating purposes. 🙂 — Suzanne
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I started studying herbs decades ago… it eally is amazing what grows unnoticed right under our nose 😉
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Shame to clean it up again,let nature flourish. Unless, of course, the space is needed to park the car. 🙂 xx
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Sadly, it serves three homes and I have to drive across it daily to get to Nick’s… and he is practicing walking there at present too 🙂
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Poor flowers. 🙂 x
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