I’ve learned that some weeds are good plants, growing where you don’t want them. Some great examples: I love my lawn but not in the flower bed. I love roses and raspberries but not in the lawn. (Kid #3 used this precept as justification for pulling squash plants out of the garden one time.)

I used to be overly particular if the children helped plant and dropped seeds in the wrong spot.  I would struggle with the concept of companion planting because to me it was akin to throwing all the silverware in the drawer without dividers. I’ve changed.

A few years ago, I left a volunteer tomato plant growing in the wrong row. It was an experiment in my own mind to see how a neglected volunteer would perform in comparison to the two foot nurtured transplants.

Glory Be!
Now zucchini and tomatoes are not recommended companions, but look how that guy flourished under those big leaves. There seemed to be no effect on the production levels of the zucchini, either.

“You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? – Matthew 7:16

We are all different, being given different gifts, having different talents, we can all contribute to the good of the whole. But in some cases you have something like nightshade growing in your garden of life.

Nightshade berries resemble roma tomatoes. They look sweet, however, they are poisonous. Notice the difference in leaf structure and the color of the flower.

So there are people in our lives who, by all appearances, are good, attractive and productive. It is only through discernment that we recognize their behavior as poisonous, they produce destruction. These are the people that need to be removed, not the good hearted and well meaning soul that just happens to be ‘growing in the wrong row’.