Wildflower save or "The small town weedwackers".

[newbud]

I live in a small town. Pop. 289. But we do have paved roads. And along side one of these paved roads near my house I have been watching this beautiful little wild flower.

It looks kinda like an orchid to me. :dontknow:

There was this pink variety and then this year a white appeared next to it. I woke up Tues. morning to the sound of weedwackers. " Oh sh** ". I jumped out of bed and by the time I got dressed and over to the street all the white ones were wacked but one pink was left. So I got my bucket and shovel and brought her home so they wouldn't get her next time around.

Some more pics of the save:

Would anyone know the anything about this wild flower. Notice the flat stems that it's grown on. How do you even start to look for a name, with all the thousands of plants and pictures out there on the net?

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Looks like Lathyrus odoratus, the common sweet pea. A native of the eastern Mediterranean, so is an escape in your area. Many cultivars have been made.

 

[Hera]

Is grows agressively so look out onc you plant it. If you need seeds I can send you some.

 

[newbud]

Wow, cool. A native of east. Med. Amazing. I wonder how it ended up on the streets of Copperhill,Tn.? Seeds? Really. Shouldn't I be able to get some off the plant?

 

[tonyw]

This is a lovely but terrible weed once it gets hold and swamps everything around it. We have seen miles of it along roadsides in California.

 

[nikv]

It's more like a "wild again" flower. It no doubt originated form someone's flower garden. These things reseed themselves quite a bit.

 

[newbud]

LOL - That's pretty wild. This is the only one I've ever seen. Not common around here at all. Thanks

 

[littlefrog]

Whatever you do, don't eat it. While it is a legume like garden peas, it is at least mildly toxic, and perhaps more toxic than that...

I like these. They don't seem to be too rampant in Michigan, I see a few but never large patches. It is a fairly common cultivated plant in gardens here though.

 

[SlipperFan]

Sweet peas, yes! My grandma used to grow these and always warned us kids not to eat them. Memories!

 

[abax]

Don't get me wrong, I love Sweet Peas, however, like Crown Vetch, it can spread like crazy and cover everything
in sight. You should probably cut it back to about six inches
before the first frost. Providing something like a trellis will show the blooms off more and help keep it under control.

 

[NYEric]

This is a weed along the coastal shore line here. Tough SOB! Grows where other stuff,even grass, gets brutalized!!! BTW, I've eaten one and wasn't affected, in volume...?