Snow in May?
Even though snow has been recorded in Heath in every month of the year, including August at the Annual Heath Fair, this ’snowy’ lawn is actually comprised of drifts of mayflowers.
At least I thought they were mayflowers, but when I looked them up to find the botanical name I found that the name mayflowers refers to trailing arbutus, Epigaea repens. When I asked my husband what he called those tiny blue and white flowers with a golden heart, he said he used to call them mayflowers (just like me) but our Canadian neighbor corrected him years ago and said they were bluets. Bluets!
Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) are members of the bedstraw family. They are native to Nova Scotia and southward. They often form large colonies in grassy fields. But I don’t know how they get started, as on this new lawn.
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Tags: Native plants
