To some gardeners, weeds are the outcasts of plant society.

To others, weeds can be a matter of taste.

Ox-eye daisies, which hitchhiked to the New World, probably in the hay used as padding for fragile goods, took off happily, rejoicing in new land to colonize. Farmers hated those plants. When asked why, they would answer: “They spoil the hay.”

Dandelions were another early import. These spread abundantly and when grassy lawns came into fashion, dandelion seeds settled right into that greensward.

You wouldn’t eat a daisy, but dandelions furnish early spring greens, a basis for wine or (in early times of war) dried, roasted and ground roots to boil for a coffee substitute. Many people look on dandelion flowers as a first blast of spring. Also, tiny children have always gathered those blossoms on leafless stems to give to a parent or grandparent — never mind that the dandelions wilt almost at once. It’s the thought that counts.

Then there’s purslane, a creeping weed with small, succulent leaves. Here’s a cousin to the sun-loving ornamental portulaca, which makes such a fine edging plant. Purslane can be a nuisance in the sunny flower bed, but it can be harvested, boiled, buttered and eaten as a supper vegetable.

Many other weeds have useful traits, but others may frustrate careful gardeners. Goldenrods are pretty, but may produce roots that interlace with other goldenrod roots to prevent other plants from gaining a roothold. Somehow, that characteristic doesn’t matter in Europe or the British Isles, where botanists have bred superior ornamentals from these American exports.

The expression “noxious weeds” applies to swallowwort and poison ivy, both of which like to take over uncultivated land. These two protect themselves with their skin irritations. Bittersweet (the imported Celastrus orbiculatus, not the native C. scandens) can strangle trees and bushes and, with creeping strands, block sunlight from the earth.

Many deep-rooted weeds can bring up elements from well down in the earth, to use for soil improvement.

When weeding, cut off all seed holders to take to the dump. Without seeds to nourish, the cut-off weeds can go safely into the compost pile.

This is a short trot through the Land of Weeds. There’s more to tell for another time, if you’re interested.