Blackberrry Blossoms

A wonderful fragrance wafts on the breeze these days. The blackberries are blossoming and this year there are a lot of them. A great crop of berries would be nice. I pick some, but it's the animals who really rely on blackberries as a food source. They say if your honey bees make it to the opening of the blackberry blossoms, they will make the year. Sadly ours did not. When Ed checked the hive, the bees were gone and the ants had carried off the remaining honey. We seldom harvest honey, but we will miss their pollination efforts in the garden. A "to bee or not to bee" decision will have to be made.

Blackberries are one of those plants that takes over naturally in a meadow if it is not grazed or mowed. The brier thickets are formidable. The deer change their path and walk around them, but the rabbits call them home. Like so many plants we keep them where we want them to grow and try to control the rest.