Spring on the Homestead

 

The blackberries survived the winter and after being purple they are now green again.  I am waiting on the blooms to come and see if the borage I planted by them will come up and attract the bees  to help pollinate them.  I am making a small strawberry bed nearby and hope to have pictures of it on the next blog.

Speaking of attracting bees, I planted at the end of last summer not knowing if it was the pot with bee balm seeds growing or cone flower seeds growing.  Now that they are back and growing bigger I believe this is bee balm and I'll have to start over with the cone flowers.

This is around the project I started last year.  The rain garden is still bare but I did put some irises and daylilys around it.  The irises are white bearded and Siberian purple ones.  During the winter I planted some blue vervaine but I am still waiting to see if it comes up.  The roots of this plant will soak up rainwater in an area that it would normally pool.  Also the flowers/leaves can be used as medicine for depression.

I didn't plant this, I just took a picture because I liked it.  I think it's a big bunch of clover but not sure.  I have a lot of weeds/ground cover that looks pretty but have no idea what they are.  

Here's another example of unknown ground cover/weed.  This stuff is all over in the backyard where my pear trees are.  It is thick and easy to walk on.  I haven't mowed it down yet since the insects and cats seem to like it.

As I was finishing the photos I saw this bee busy getting pollen from a dandelion.  I had several dandelions come up this year which is good as they are soil ammenders and can improve the quality of the soil and most parts of the plant can eaten or used in a tea.

Speaking of bearded white irises,  here is a blown up shot of one that has bloomed by my front porch.  I have tons of these they are by the front porch, the driveway and some out back.  If you want some please let me know.  Till next time....