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When I first started gardening seriously I was not very nice to flowers. I was in fact almost offended by them, the way I still am with grass. If I talked about flowers at all it would have been to say they are a waste of space and that only flowers that are beneficial companion plants are allowed in my garden. I had marigolds and of course anything that made a flower in order to grow the veggie or fruit, and that was about it. But over time that changed. I realized that those strawberry flowers and peach blossoms made me happy. Not just because they were the harbinger of delicious noms to come, but because they were lovely all on their own.
A few years ago I threw a few handfuls of beneficial insect attracting wildflower seeds into a little unused space in the front yard. My stated reason would have been to get more good helpful insects to increase the food production, but there was more to it than that. I wanted flowers. When they came up and I saw the little buds forming I was so excited. I had no idea what flowers were in the mix. Would this new one be pink, blue or purple? Would it be a single flower, or a cluster of little ones? Would it have a nice smell?
I have never been one to be given or go buy cut flowers. It always seemed like a waste of money, but I admit I like to stop and look at them in the flower part of the store. Flower arrangements were a decadent thing that I just could not have in my life. But that all changed as those wildflowers started to bloom. It was like a magic trick, this one part of my yard was a joy for the senses; a riot of colors and shapes, a busy buzzing blur of bees and butterflies, and a delicate blend of new smells.
That is when I realized flowers are a perfectly reasonable crop for a hard-working homesteader. They might not feed my tummy, but they feed another part of me that is just as in need of nourishment.
kittysarkozy.com 
Very pretty! I love flowers, but unfortunately I tend to kill them. 😦
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I’m kind of down on flowers, too. But gourds are the thing I plant just because I like them, dammit. And don’t be knocking grass. Get some livestock, and you’ll start to appreciate the grass, too!
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Someday when I have the land for livestock I will change my mind about grass. Gourds are neat, what sort are you growing. I grew a loofah a few years ago, that was weird.
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I don’t know their official name, but they are the kind you make birdhouses out of. They were so awesome when they were growing last year, spreading out all over really wild and pretty. I only saved one of the gourds, and I never made anything out of it; it just sat around outside all winter. A few weeks ago I picked it up, and it had turned itself into a shaker/rattle instrument. Seeds or whatever inside have hardened and dislodged themselves, and since it’s a gourd it has the perfect handle shaped neck, so it’s become an awesome rattle. I walk around my yard shaking it and feeling really proud like I’ve just invented music. I can’t wait to grow some more! 🙂
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