Grass Flowers

   I often find tiny flowers in the grass around the hillside.  Since I am not one that has to have the perfectly manicured lawn, I leave them grow where they may.  In fact, I love them.  Often these are what my mom called "Little Blue Eyes".  She was not far off from the actual common name which is blue-eyed grass.  The plant is only about 4 inches tall and the bloom is as tiny as a pea!  They are lovely, little things!  Years ago, I photographed the blue-eyed grasses as often as I found them.

  Yesterday while out in the back of the property near the creek bed, I noticed a tiny yellow flower.  Yep, I am quickly down on my knees photographing the wee bloom.  As I inspected the flower, I realized that it was almost identical to the blue-eyed grass bloom yet it was yellow!  I guess there truly is a first time for everything since I have never seen a yellow-eyed grass!  It called for a bit of research and, yes, it is called yellow-eyed grass and is kin to the blue-eyed grass.  How about that??

  I am seriously thinking of transplanting a few of both types into a pot or some small pan to have a miniature plant garden. There are so many wonderful wildflowers that go unseen simply because we are in such a hurry to get where we are going that we never take the time to really look at things.  Maybe life here on the Bayou just moves at a slower pace than other places or maybe I just do not fit in with the fast moving crowd.  I observe.  I take the time to really see things.  It is great.  Try it sometime.  You may be amazed at what all you have been missing.

Little Blue-eyes!

I was a tad out of sorts today for some odd reason.  It seemed that I was frustrated at myself for not accomplishing all that I wanted to have done by this point in the season.  So...I took it out on the poor weedeater!  Whenever I get this way, I grab that thing and start cutting!  Today, I put it to good use in the Rose Garden turned Herb Garden.  With all of the rainy, warm weather we have had as of late, the weeds had taken over most of the area.  I whacked them all down to the ground!

While I was in full swing with that cutting machine, I noticed something that stopped me in my tracks!  A tiny flower brought a halt to the cutting!  In the midst of the weeds was...another weed!  But this one was pretty! As usual, this called for a photo-session!  I am beginning to wonder about my sanity each time that I am crawling around on the ground in search of a minute posy!  This time, though, was different!  The objects of my interest was Little Blue-eyes!  Back years ago, I (like most other youngsters) used to pick bouquets of these for Mom and Grandmother!  I was never reprimanded for picking as many of the lovely flowers as I wanted!  Unbeknownst to me, these things were weeds and I was doing every adult a large favor by pulling them from the grass.  Both Mom and Grandmother would ooh and aah over my lovely bouquets and would always find some tiny bottle to display them.  Yep...I did the same thing when my kids were small!  I believe these flowers are some sort of rite of passage for every kid..and every mom.

Now, I have no idea the true name of the plant as I am pulling on memories for this one.  Every time I would hand a bouquet of the flowers..err..weeds to one of the lovely ladies, they would always gush over the "Little Blue-eyes"!  Works for me!  So Little Blue-eyes will always be the name of the grass flowers that have bloomed in abundance this spring!  I almost hated to cut them..almost.  I think tomorrow when I head out the gate to cut some more, I will pick myself a little cluster...just for old time's sake.