Most Important Urban Garden Plants, Bidens alba and Bidens pilosa

Bidens alba and Bidens pilosa, top ten survival garden plants

I’ve added Bidens alba to my top ten prepper plant and survival garden must have plant list.  Bidens alba is commonly known as beggar’s tick and Spanish needles.  

Bidens pilosa is another ‘beggar tick’ and closely related cousin to B. alba.  Some botanists do not differentiate the two as separate species and granted, both can hybridize.  B. alba’s native range is generally thought to be north america while B. pilosa has been considered a native of Central and South America.

Beggar tick is easily recognized by it’s yellow disc flowers with five or so white to white-lavender ray petals.  Each plant usually produces up to 10,000 long, dark and narrow barbed seeds.  The seeds are notorious for sticking to pants, socks and clothing, and in quantities almost impossible to remove without considerable effort.

Beggar tick is considered an obnoxious weed  by many in the agriculture industry because it is so easily spread by birds and also due to its allelopathic phytochemical properties which discourage other species from growing nearby, thereby potentially reducing agriculture yields.

Despite the disdain from farmers, endemic peoples have and still do today use Bidens spp. as both a food and medicinal resource.

Fresh, younger leaves of the plant are a significant food source for many cultures.  In most traditions Bidens leaves are parboiled until tender and then eaten as a potherb.  Some consume the leaves raw, a native addition to salad greenery.  I’ve tried the leaves raw and didn’t particularly care for the taste and texture.

We’ve tried to feed Bidens to the chickens but like me, the wildflower is not the hen’s first choice.

So why do I place this weedy wildflower on the top ten survival garden list?  

Probably because my perspective is that the successful survival garden is only successful when thought of not as a stand alone entity but as a small part of a complex set of physical, biological, geological and environmental factors existing across a balcony, patio, yard or farm.

So while Bidens alba and B. pilosa may not be that tasty to me, and they are such a nuisance on my green roofs, living walls, in containers and across the garden, the fact is that Bidens plants are always there on the roof or in the containers and across our gardens and always blooming.  Without serious plant poisons and herbicides, one can not rid themselves of Bidens.

When I say ‘always blooming’ I truly mean ‘always blooming.  No matter the time of day, month or year there is a Bidens alba or B. pilosa blooming somewhere in our survival garden.  Of all the flowers we plant, the only bloom that persists day in and day out is beggar tick.

Flowers are key to fruit and veggie production and plant reproduction.  Because Bidens is always blooming there will always be pollinators in our survival garden.  Year-round pollination provides year-round vegetables and fruits, depending of course on the climate.

Yet even year-round pollination is only a small piece of the overall complex garden productivity puzzle and reason Bidens is on my top ten list.

Flowers indicate pollinators.  Pollinators indicate produce.  Pollinators also indicate anoles, birds and other predators found in a healthy ecosystem.  A healthy ecosystem indicates a level of pest control around the site.  More birds indicates fewer pest insects, roaches, termites and unwanted bugs.  

Because Bidens is blooming, there are fewer pest organisms in our survival garden.

Because Bidens is blooming, the sense of place created by flower’s colors, textures and reflection is always there, across our yard.

Because Bidens is blooming, photosynthesis is always occurring in our survival garden.  And since the plant is there, if we were to ever be truly starving, we’d have our handy supply of potherbs.

The total ecosystem support Bidens provides is exponentially complex.  Without this weedy plant in our garden the overall biodiversity and complexity would significantly diminish.

I still haven’t welcomed Bidens with open arms into my life.  But I am appreciating the plant more and more, especially when it is the only flower blooming during the coldest months.  And when the earliest spring bee lands and feeds then heads over to our flowering cilantro I am thankful, for we will have plenty of coriander soon.  Because Bidens is blooming, our survival garden is alive and well.