They’re Just Weeds, Right?

I was talking with one of my agents today—just casual conversation. I mentioned I’d spent the morning picking dandelion, mallow, and white clover flowers for drying. Nothing fancy. Just part of a normal day.

She paused. “Wait… dandelions? You use those?”
And then she said it—the sentence I’ve heard more times than I can count:
“I thought they were just weeds.”

I don’t judge. I used to think that too. Most people do.
Because that’s what we’ve been told.

We’ve been taught to pull, spray, and poison the very plants our great-grandparents used to heal themselves. Somewhere along the way, dandelions became pests instead of medicine. Clover became lawn clutter instead of nourishment. Mallow? Most folks don’t even know her name.

But here’s the truth:
These so-called “weeds” are survivors. They grow where the ground is rough, where the soil is tired, where the fancy plants won’t. And they carry medicine in every stem, root, and petal.

Dandelion cleans the liver.
Mallow soothes the gut.
White clover supports the lymph and cools inflammation.
And that’s just what I picked today.

The more I do this, the more I realize how much has been forgotten.
How much wisdom we paved over.
And how much healing is still growing—quietly, stubbornly—beneath our boots.

So no, they’re not just weeds.
They’re the first garden.
And they’re still waiting to be seen.