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

Garden Walkabout

Between rain showers yesterday, I managed to get out in the yard and garden for a while.

I don't know the name of this little coral-colored rose but it's one of my favorites.










It's been there in the bed by the green house for about twenty years, at a guess and, if past years are any guide, will bloom from now till frost.






















There is a nice flush of shitakes on the inoculated logs -- I foresee another asparagus/shitake stir fry in our future.

The spiderwort is blooming in the creepy garden.

The banties are happy in their chicken tractor.

In the herb garden, the sage is blooming and fat bumble bees wiggle their way deep into the blossoms.

The box beds were full of weeds which have outdone themselves with all the rain. I filled a tub to take to the big chickens and threw a wad of crisp green chickweed to the banties -- along with assorted slugs, earthworms, and wood lice.

Across the road from the garden I spotted a clump of Blue-eyed Grass.

This tiny (the bloom is about the size of my little finger's nail) wild flower is a member of the iris family and though not exactly showy is utterly charming.

A lovely find on a day in late spring.