honeyvine, bluevine, swallow-wort

I think the milkweed vine down  by the lane is a Cynanchum laeve, though now that I have looked it up I need to go see it again. Probably I need to resurrect the plant press.

Aside - I washed out and refilled the hummingbird feeder yesterday, and it apparently tastes good again. Hummer just visited for maybe a dozen swallows  Of course I picked up the phone to try a picture just too late.

Here is the photo from the Natural Resource Conservanion Service (public domain via  Wiki Commons), and then two of mine.

 

Wikipedia says it's considered a noxious weed in some areas, but it doesn't seem to be here. I can see that it could be kind of kudzu-like, but it doesn't compare to greenbrier and Carolina snailseed. I am glad  to have found it.

almost blackberry-time...

We are having an incredibly pleasant first week of July, with days in the upper 80s and nights in the 60s. However, it has started to  warm up again. Back to normal by next week.


Yesterday Tommy mowed around

the clumps of berries that have arisen in the field south of the tank. Since he mowed into the clumps till he got to where there were thick berries, the surrounding ground is pretty rough. Most people will find it pretty convenient picking though, even if the third-mile round trip and a few minutes picking took ME 53 minutes.

 There are lots of green and pink berries, and a few ripe ones. I found one spot where there were several branches more advanced than the rest. I got about two dozen, just about an ounce. YUMMMMM...