Weeds vs. Volunteers
There's an old argument I sometimes have with my dearest gardener friend (who just had a birthday) about the difference between a weed and a volunteer. Prosaic wisdom says that there is no discernable difference in the plant itself, but that a volunteer is a weed you want, and a weed is a volunteer you don't. In other words, the difference between a weed and a volunteer is you. I think it gets a little more complicated, and lest I lose you, dear reader, let me assure you that I DO mean this as a metaphor for people and social situations. Everything's a metaphor. A volunteer becomes a weed when it requires more effort than it's worth (to you) to contain or remove, or when it threatens your other plants. A weed is not usually merely a single flower growing spontaneously, but an army of some invasive species. Dandelions, for instance, are attractive, useful, and edible, but very few people appreciate these things about them when they take over your yard (which they ...