Monday, July 17, 2017

The Flowers of the Field

There always seems to be something either blooming or bearing fruit out in the big field where Baloo and I walk just about every morning. I like to see what's new each day while Baloo noses around sniffing for ground squirrel or bunny trails.


Purple and white vetch are both blooming, sometimes creating tangles that are difficult to navigate, but are beautiful to look at - and apparently a good source of pollen, if the number of bees are any indication.


In the first picture you can also see the yellow hawkweed flowers dotted among the vetch. There's an orange version of this plant that I believe I highlighted last year. They were favorites of mine as a child - what a great name! Why hawkweed? Apparently, the Romans thought that hawks fed on these flowers to improve their eyesight. I find plant lore fascinating!


The Canada anemone is another field dweller, though it seems to like the wetter, marshy areas more than the dry, sandy ones. If you look carefully, you'll see that the flower on the left has a tiny bee collecting pollen.

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