Last Sunday, I walked outside to look at the condition of the herb garden after some of the coldest winter weather in years. I was pleased to see new green leaves on the sage. The oregano, marjoram, and lemon balm will require a severe haircut, but the parsley is green, though floppy. Overall, the herb garden looks healthy. Then I spotted a touch of green peeping out from the dry, brown oak leaves that collected in the bed over the winter. The first of the spring weeds has shown up, common chickweed (Stellaria media), to be specific.
In a few weeks, the first dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) will pop up, then the little chicken-beaked henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) and the nodding heads of purple dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum), followed by wild violets (Viola spp.), and gardeners everywhere on the Middle Peninsula will be attacking their garden beds and fields with rakes and hoes and spray bottles of organic herbicide to combat the armies of small, weedy, invasive soldiers marching acro...