Looking Closer

Carolina Geranium/Carolina Cranesbill?

Yesterday morning I weeded till the heat drove me inside. I was stuck by how pretty the tiny (smaller than my little fingernail) weed flowers are. And I realized I wasn't sure of some of the names of these plants I've pulled up year after year.  The picture above, for example. A Google search tells me it's (probably) Carolina Geranium or Carolina Cranesbill.  But is it really?

Creeping Charlie/Ground Ivy

I'm reasonably sure about these next two . . .

Chickweed

Chickweed is abundant. And nice in salads when it's young. But by the time it flowers, it's no longer young.

Yellow Wood Sorrel/Oxalis

In the past I've tended to think of this yellow one as clover because of the shape of the leaves. Wrong! Yellow Clover has a flower that looks like (surprise) clover. This is Oxalis -- like shamrocks.

This little blue bloomer has me stumped -- I can't find it in my wild flower book, nor on Mr. Google. Maybe one of you can identify it.

Smartweed

I think this pink one is indeed Smartweed -- at least that's what a neighbor called it years ago.  

And the one below is Blue-eyed Grass -- which is actually a tiny, tiny wild iris. And it's really blue--I photographed it when the sun was on it and the color is washed out. "Never mind," I thought when I saw the picture on my laptop, "I'll go out later when the sun is off that area and get a better picture." 

But I'd forgotten that the little flowers close in the afternoon. So you'll just have to imagine a rich, clear blue.

The Blue-eyed Grass is non-invasive and rare enough that I don't pull it up. But the others, pretty flowers and all, got pulled up and set aside to enrich the chickens' diet. I know there'll be more.

It was nice to spend a morning outside, looking close and paying attention. Balm for the soul in these perilous and contentious times. 

Blue-eyed Grass