Around The Farm In June

The first half of June was largely cool and rainy, but that has suited many plants just fine and they are growing splendidly. I have four Snowball Bushes growing along the front of my property, a gift from a friend several years ago, a friend who has since died. These bushes have now taken on an added beauty as tributes to my friend:

The early dawns suit me just fine since I get up so early. I go out as soon as it is light enough to see, with the added bonus that I get to experience such extravagant sunrises as this one:

This tiny flower  is common in my lawn and pasture. After much searching through my Field Guide, I've decided that it is Creeping Wood-Sorrel:

I was doing the evening chores when my five dogs began barking their fool heads off and I realized that the neighbor was leading her new pony with one of her boys down the road. I tried to quiet my dogs, but my neighbor walked right up my driveway in an effort to be friendly and to help her pony learn to stay calm amid barking dogs. Abilene, the pony, did just fine with the dogs (she's an old hand at handling children's parties) but was worried about my cattle who were in the field across the road. That's where she was attempting to look when I snapped this photo:

One of my apple trees died several years ago but has begun sending up suckers. I cut the old wood down to where the suckers began and will let the suckers grow. If they form a new tree, fine. If they don't, I've already done most of the removal job:

The first of my Iris plants bloomed in early June:

All along the edges of fields and roadsides, tall bushes burst into flower. They are Roughleaf Dogwood, a relative of the familiar Flowering Dogwood, common to woodlands and lawns:

Close up, one can see the similarity in leaf and flower shapes, though the flowers are tiny and in clusters:

Blue Flag, our wild Iris, began blooming in wet spots along roadsides and in marshy areas:

Ragged Robin also began blooming in fields and along roadsides:

I posted photos of my old fashioned Bridal Veil Spireas before, but they reached their peak beauty recently, so I thought I'd post a picture of them again. They are show-stoppers:

And close up, they are just as nice. They only bloom once each year, but they are so spectacular that the memory of them lingers until the next year: