My Wait and See 'em Garden

I first heard a plant described as a “Wait and See ‘em” when I was an NMG Intern at Weyanoke tasked with weeding an area. Many of the weeds targeted were recognizable, though some plants that I considered weeds at my home (e.g., Virginia Creeper) were not weeds in a Native Plant Garden. As a newbie at Weyanoke I enthusiastically pulled out what I knew I should, but I always called on the more seasoned NMGs to identify the plants I was unsure about pulling out. The last thing I wanted to do as an intern was to rip out valuable native plants! There were very rare occasions when very young plants couldn’t be identified by anyone, and Donna Van Keuren would label them “Wait and See ‘ems.” In other words, “leave those plants until they get large enough for us to recognize.”

At home I have always let plants grow large enough for me to identify before deciding whether they were keepers or not. Whether they’ve migrated from neighbors’ gardens, or the seeds are deposited by wildlife and strong breezes, I have plants that I don’t recognize when they first emerge. Various areas of my property have plants that I did not put where they are currently growing. 

I live in a 75-year-old house with a 75-year-old patio consisting of 14 three-foot square concrete blocks. Originally there was mortar between those blocks but, like my 70-year-old body, things aren’t exactly like they used to be. Weeds seem to flourish in the narrow bit of soil that accumulates there, like it does in the cracks of a sidewalk. I normally weed whack the patio when I see something emerging but this one area caused me to have a Wait and See ‘em moment.   

And I’m glad I did! Can there be a more ideal garden than one that you don’t have to prepare the soil for, plant seeds in, water, or even weed? For now, my Wait and See ‘em Patio Pollinator Garden has two species of plants ( Gaillardia pulchella Indian Blanket and Rudbeckia Black-eyed Susan) and is frequented by bees and butterflies. Hopefully as these flowers go to seed, they will spread to other areas of my patio. It gives a little color and life to what had become the storage area for water hoses and bins for trash and recyclables. 

We all will probably experience emerging plants now that the weather is warming and the rains have become more frequent. I suggest you embrace the Wait and See ‘em attitude of gardening. You may be pleasantly surprised by the results.