Chickweed – my first ‘wildflower’ of 2009
Common Chickweed – Stellaria media
I hate to call Chickweed a wildflower. First off, it’s an alien of Eurasian origin and secondly it’s more of a weed. (as it’s name implies) Lastly this was found not in the ‘wild’ but in a garden where it is most certainly considered a weed.
What makes this tiny (1/4 inch) flower interesting is that it’s a little deceptive. If you look closely the 10 petals are really 5. Each petal is so deeply divided they appear to be 2. It had me going for a few minutes even though I had a very good idea of what this flower was when I went to my Peterson field guide. I did not look in the white, -5 Petaled- section and of course I didn’t find it in the -6 to 10 petals: Low Flowers of Spring- section where I first looked.
Another interesting fact is that the stems have hairs growing in a single line along the stem. After a leaf junction the line of hairs will ‘change’ sides. How about one more, you’ll see this plant bloom throughout the growing season.
Common Chickweed is considered a winter annual. Chickweed prefers open, sunny, moist areas. In warmer areas it can be a short lived perennial. Those seeds that germinate in the fall will overwinter and in spring rapidly grow, flower, set seed and then die off by summer. Meanwhile more seed is germinating all the time and following close behind 
This is an edible plant so you can weed and feed at the same time. Browse while you pull out the shallow rooted plants but make sure you don’t drop any since the plant will easily re-root and recover. Use the leaves as salad or cooked greens.
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April 6th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Though they are small, when they bloom fully in the sea of white flowers, it must be great.
April 6th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Hmmm, might be a nice groundcover in an edged area!
April 6th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
I’m happy to see you arrived home safely from your BFR delivery service jaunt. Show us a photo of its final destination!
April 6th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
What a lovely weed(-: I want to see the rock in its final resting place too(-:
April 6th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
It may be a weed, but if it’s edible maybe it’s a vegetable too. I wonder how it tastes.
April 7th, 2009 at 7:16 am
Still pretty for a weed!
April 7th, 2009 at 11:02 am
What a beautiful close-up! We have chickweed here in Michigan but I’ve never really looked closely at the flower before. And I didn’t know it is edible. Have you tried it? It sure is prolific! Nice to know it is also beautiful.
April 7th, 2009 at 11:24 am
By the way, I just noticed the comment you made on my gardening blog a few weeks ago. I didn’t have it set up right to get the email notifications. Thanks for visiting and commenting. I really enjoy your blog and especially your photography.
April 8th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
I’m so jealous that you have ANYTHING blooming. We are still totally gray and brown. Even the bloodroot isn’t up.
February 2nd, 2011 at 7:13 pm
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April 7th, 2011 at 3:57 am
[...] weeded the walled flower beds and mixed in some muck. The main problem round there is chickweed (some info on chickweed). It’s everywhere and no matter how we try to keep it down it comes back with a vengeance. [...]
September 28th, 2011 at 11:24 pm
Chickweed is used in a delish salad called fattoush. I had fattoush with chickweed many years ago in Damascus – it was so good I embarrasingly ate more than my share. I don’t know where to buy it and it doesn’t grow with MY weeds. If you have it, don’t let it go to waste!!!
December 30th, 2011 at 4:48 am
I was reading your blog about the “Chickweed” and just wanted to say if anybody has any chickens they will be glad to take care of those weeds for you! LOL I have several varieties of chickens and roo’s and they just love eating chickweed from spring til summer.