ONE MAN'S WEED IS ANOTHER MAN'S WILDFLOWER

A FIELD OF WILD DAISIES...

...FLOWERS

ROADSIDE WITH ORANGE HAWKWEED...

...FLOWERS

Monday, 7:00 AM.  64 degrees F at the ferry dock, 60 on the back porch.  Wind N, calm with light gusts.  The sky is overcast with a few low black clouds.  The humidity is 89% and the barometer is still falling, now standing at 29.70".  Thunderstorms with hail and high winds are occurring in southern Bayfield County but it looks like the city will be sparred, although we will probably get some rain, a few drops of which are falling at present.
   What constitutes a "wildflower?"  Are wildflowers only native plants, or does the term include non-native, showy flowers in a naturalized environment?  I will postulate the later, if they are aesthetically pleasing and occur naturally.
   Many of our roadside and field "wildflowers" are indeed European or Asian plants, often familiar since times of early settlement because they arrived on our shores with agricultural seeds from Europe.
Two very floriferous (and mostly innocuous) flowers are the wild daisy, Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, and orange hawkweed, Hieracium aurontiacum, both in the Composit Family.  The former can be very prevalent in roadsides and pastures throughout Central North America.  The later is more restricted to northern and eastern North America. In the  past hawkweed was considered an aid to eyesight, the latin names translating directly into its common name. The two alien species often grow together and provide a very colorful "wildflower" display.
   Some will object to my calling these and other innocuous, colorful alien plants  "wildflowers," but "One man's weed is another man's wildflower."