I am cultivating the largest Johnsongrass I’ve ever seen. It sprouted up in our Fayetteville flower bed between visits and is so impressive I feel compelled to watch it grow. It wants to live.
It’s my personal 4-H project. I wonder if I could enter it in the State Fair of Arkansas?
Daddy would be mortified. Thomas Tate had some of the cleanest fields in Mississippi County. Driving anywhere with him meant factoring in lots of extra time. Like all great farmers, he drove slow enough to watch cotton bolls open from the highway. And he stopped unannounced to chop the errant Johnsongrass growing mid-field. On our way to anywhere, like playing a game of I Spy, we scanned the fields looking for offensive weeds standing taller than the crops, a slightly different shade of green, showing off, teasing Daddy, testing him. He stopped the truck, grabbed his trusty hoe from the back, walked to the annoying thing and whacked it down. No matter how muddy the field. No matter where we were going. To a basketball game or wedding or funeral…
We patiently sat inside the musty truck watching and waiting. We had no Iphone entertainment. No Angry Birds to pass the time. Just conversation and maybe a Barbie in tow.
Growing up that way, I am naturally drawn to weeding pulling and flower deadheading. Even at a friend’s house or restaurant, I can barely restrain myself. I’m surprised that I drove back to Dallas and left that mammoth Johnsongrass free to grow in Fayetteville. A weed is but an unloved flower.
talya
Musical Pairings:
A weed is but an unloved flower. – Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I do remember seeing your Dad take out his hoe to chop down anything that didn’t belong in his fields, which was very seldom cause Thomas Tate had the cleanest fields in the County. He could grow a crop on gumbo dirt, for sure. Unloved plants & flowers is something I have an eye for. I have morning glories growing on my back fence, I only let the blue bloom plant survive. My daddy would have gotten the round up out if he saw this. I dug up a plant that favors a cane but its shorter & I put it in a planter as a back accent. Farmers have it on ditch banks in the Monette area. Your Johnson grass makes a unique conversation piece. Yep I think it should be entered in the county fair. Can you imagine the looks.
Thomas also carried a machete in his truck for lamb-blasting tough weeds. I still have it. Mom
I know. I saw it when I was Cinderella.
Tom carries his brush cutter when he walks around our fields to cut out the thistle. I think the thistle blooms are pretty! The birds and butterflies like it too.
I remember having to “big weed” as Daddy called it – that meant if it was taller than the cotton, chop it! I didn’t mind those chopping days even as I detested the hoe that caused many calluses on my hands. Somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to recall hearing the phrase “if you don’t have calluses on your hands, you aren’t working hard enough.” Anyway, it sounds like something my Dad would say to me.
As usual Talya, I can relate so much to your blog and your writing brings back many good memories of growing up. I love to read your entries.
Robin
Thank you Robin!
And may I add that my Momma told me that a “weed” is simply anything that is growing where it is unwanted.” I thought that sounded reasonable.
Robin
I remember hanging my arm out of the window while riding with my dad down a turnrow and getting a long cut from a blade of johnsongrass! Another winner!
in referring to your Johnson grass on steroids, I think Dr. Frankenstein’s famous immortal words summed up it best when he exclaimed, “It’s ALIIIIIVE!!! It’s ALIIIIIVE!!!=)…Also, I’ve heard that plants respond well to music, so maybe you could leave one of the Bee Gees’ famous songs, such as “Stayin’ Alive” playing around the clock next to Mr. Johnson, there. That ought to help him grow, and then he’ll definitely be ready for the Arkansas State Fair!=) Anyway, I’m sorry to say I never had to opportunity to meet your Dad, but I know he had to have been a great man! After all, your amazing Mom picked him out to be her husband, and he helped your Mom raise two wonderful daughters!
It is ALIVE.
Very nice, mom. This post definitely made me smile.
Thanks Kelsey:))
Another “weed” that I took MY hoe to turned out to be, according to my highway-department-employee son, a lance-leaf coreopsis. Like a dandelion but on taller stems. So those yellow blooms in my north yard are not a result of sloth, but of appreciation. Loved your take on the johnsongrass. It’s pretty. I say leave it–until and unless you have something more showy to plant there.
What we need is a way to make Johnsongrass profitable. I mean, there was some talk a while back of growing sawgrass to turn into ethanol instead of corn.
Surely sawgrass isn’t any faster-growing or hardy than Johnsongrass…