Noxious weed bouquet

Perhaps we can refer to a weed as “a misplaced plant” but noxious weeds are down right obnoxious! Dandelions, Ox-eye Daisy and Thistle are all invasive species and are growing like wildfire all over Breckenridge right now. Ok, so one must not pick the wild flowers but hey, weeds are fair game, right? And this floral gal is all about finding the beauty right under our noses. So I bring you my noxious weed bouquet.

I grouped the thistle together on one side so the whole bouquet wouldn’t look too weedy. Grouping flowers together in bouquets often makes a stronger impact, and mimics how they would grow naturally.

Unfortunately (or do I say fortunately), most of the dandies around town have gone to seed already. This bummed me out me because I thought their bright yellow round heads would be a perfect compliment to the bouquet. So I gathered some purple clover flowers instead…changing the colors towards the muted side rather than bright. Clover isn’t noxious…but could be considered an invasive weed, so thought it might qualify. And it was all over the yard.

Here’s how it looked before I added the clover.
And here is a cool tidbit about noxious weed control in Colorado. Goats are often used to help control the problem. They are brought in to graze (usually in native and wetland areas). The goats digest and kill weed seeds while providing natural fertilizer as they graze.