If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, I’m sure you know that central Florida is absolutely loaded with wildflowers, and that many of those wildflowers are considered “weeds”. Since my office is located in the local landfill, we have plenty of weeds growing in the area. Our area is especially hospitable to those weeds that like to come into disturbed areas. There are always pieces of large equipment moving earth here and there, so much of the soil is disturbed. These weeds come into the area and help to stabilize the loose soil so that other plants will be able to grow without being washed or blown away. One of the prettiest ones that we have around is the Carolina desert chicory (Pyrrhopappus carolinianus). It grows in our play yards as well as many other areas of the landfill. The bright yellow flowers are reasonably good sized and obviously easy on the eyes, but the other nice thing about them is that they bloom most of the late spring and summer and well into the fall. When the yards get mowed, the flowers are removed, but the plant does fine, and before long, the pretty golden flowers are back. They seem to grow best if the weather is wet, but they are still around, even when things get dry. I also have several of these plants around on my property. I usually let them grow and do their own thing since besides being hearty and pretty, they also attract butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. That’s my kind of plant!