Tiny blue-green leaves are popping up throughout my newest flower bed. Annoying little buggers, they are. Their appearance is caught somewhere between innocent and menacing. Their succulent leaves look a bit frail, yet their numbers whisper a bit more of a threatening tune. Hand pulling and hoeing has put an end to hundreds of them, yet in just a few days, hundreds more fill their space.

Lambsquarters. The weed I love to hate.

My soil seems to abound with common lambsquarters, botanically known as Chenopodium album. I think that perhaps I have more than my fair share of this particular weed because I amend the soil generously with sheep manure. The weed might have acquired its common name after developing a reputation for being spread by the woolly four-legged dispersal units? Hmm. Maybe.

Or maybe I have loads of lambsquarters because their seeds are inherently in the soil, where they may lurk for years, waiting to surface with the annual tilling to germinate and grow to fruition.

Whatever the source, I have a hearty share, and I’ll spend the next few weeks doing battle. Lambsquarters loves the heat of summer and with every thunder shower, a new flush of germination occurs. But it’s not so bad, really. The tender stems pull easily when small, hardly moving the soil around the roots, barely disturbing my garden flowers.

For those who let even one lambsquarters go untouched in the garden: Beware! I did a bit of research on this tenacious weed and found that even the scrawniest of plants can produce 5,000 seeds without effort. A large, healthy plant (which, by the way, can reach up to 5 feet in height) can easily produce 500,000 seeds. “Wow,” you say. Yes, “wow” indeed!

Imagine what your garden will look like if only 10 percent of those seeds germinate into healthy plants! We shouldn’t let our innocent impression of woolly spring lambs get tainted by those nasty midsummer nutrient-grabbing, sunlight-stealing, space-eating weeds. Plenty of perfectly wonderful garden plants also are allied with the fleecy creatures.

Desirable and functional plants like lamb’s ear, for example, may help redeem the reputation of these harmless (some contend dimwitted) creatures. Lamb’s ear is aptly named. The scientific term used to describe the downy white “hairs” on the leaves of lamb’s ear is “pubescent,” but furry is really a better term.

Children and adults alike can’t resist touching the leaves of this pretty silver plant. Strong stems bear small lilac and pink flowers in whorls, and powerfully attract bees. This fun plant makes an excellent ground cover, can easily be grown from seed, and performs well in well-drained to dry soil.

Sheep fescue is another delightful plant to have in the garden, and like lamb’s ear, denotes a more pleasant side to woolly quadrupeds than the dreadful lambsquarters. Sheep fescue is an excellent choice for the rock garden or the embankment in need of a ground cover.

The fine blue-green foliage of this grass is a real eye-catcher and can visually cool off a hot and sunny area. Tolerant of drought and moderately poor soil, sheep fescue clumps but doesn’t spread rapidly.

Another favorite plant affiliated with sheep is woolly thyme. Few other garden plants have such charm. Minute deep green leaves are covered in downy gray wool. Often used as a ground cover between paving stones, woolly thyme easily penetrates small growing spaces and withstands foot traffic with relative ease. This particular thyme isn’t fragrant, but its foliage compensates for its lack of aroma.

One final ornamental selection associated with sheep is lambkill or sheep laurel, botanically known as Kalmia angustifolia. Poisonous to sheep and toxic to humans, this acid-loving shrub is native to woodland swamps. Leathery leaves provide a backdrop for large clusters of small, bowl-shaped flowers in spring. Flowers range from pale to deep red to white. A lovely plant, however doomfully named.

If you search through your gardening catalogs and magazines, you’ll likely find a few more selections of plants that connect somehow with the fleecy farm animal. It’s no surprise, really, that sheep should be so frequently associated with garden plants. It wasn’t so long ago that nearly everyone had a sheep or two. Sheep had the ordinary farm functions: They provided meat and fiber for country and city dwellers alike.

But during Victorian times, when the use of turfgrass grew prominent in the landscape, sheep had an additional function: They were lawn mowers. And, of course, they happily fertilized the lawn at the same time!

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, c/o Maine Weekend, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.