Seeing Stars
As much as I have been walking the gardens, waiting to see what will appear after a nasty winter, I do see more than what pleases the eye. The earliest of greenery in our yards looks a lot like chives. Everyone with a garden would have several plants of chives as that was the perfect finish to a bowl of good potato salad. This greenery knows no boundaries. Dennis pays no attention to it in the lawn as he mows it with never a mind. As my perennials are struggling to get a foothold, they are almost strangled by this early crop of greens. Where they came from originally I have no idea. Birds carry much as they fertilize hither and yon. Strong breezes have also been known to share from yard to yard. As you can see from the photo, the greens are bountiful, much like thick grass. After a bit there appears a blossoming stem, coming out of the soil and the Star of David takes center stage in all of its six inch glory.
Beautiful, but pesky, Star of David
In time the entire mat of greens and flowers will die off and be left to be raked off as it looks really untidy. I did dig up a bundle and there is no counting all the little bulblets, waiting to be fed by the greenery as it dies off. As I had mentioned, the stars can make one see red. This self-seeding process is nothing new to gardeners. My Mom had Marigolds growing among the cucumber vines and dill plants were not hard to come by when the cucumbers were ready to become pickles.
So it goes, and I need to remind myself that gardening is anything but dull and boring and you play the hand you are dealt. Each year we find the Stars of David in places where nothing else would take hold and we just marvel. I am quite sure if we tried to cultivate these little buggers we would have a crop failure. Some things are just meant to be.