Taraxacum Officinale

This post comes after yesterday's Springtime weather - and after my having seen a solitary dandelion growing up and out of the small space between the sidewalk and a building.

Another of the under-appreciated and misunderstood "weeds," the common dandelion persists as a highly adaptable and hardy plant. It is actually classified as a "beneficial weed" due to its wide range of use, including but not limited to the following: 1) its introduction of key/essential nutrients to the soil, 2)  its use in a wide variety of cuisines and food dishes, 3) its utility in folk and modern-day medicinal practices, and, most beautifully, 4) its implementation in the art of adornment, bodily or otherwise. One can't help but to think of small children with flecks of yellow in their hair or faint golden streaks on their faces and hands.

Mugwort

Even though winter is (supposed to be) upon us I often find little weed-sprouts squeezed between slabs of concrete or, more comically, residing in outdoor clay pots bereft of all "preferable" blooming plants. Artemisia vulgaris, better known as mugwort, seems inescapable. It populates street corners and trash-strewn empty lots and breaks up expansive grey spaces with greens and whites. The city hardly seems as harsh.