Things Start to Happen in June

Earlier in the week I decided to walk from Keene to Swanzey. This might sound like an accomplishment but it’s only slightly over three miles. I think I was 10 years old the first time I did it and I’ve been doing it ever since. These days I like to try to do it once a month. That way I can see what new flowers are blooming. On this day I saw lots of blunt leaf sandwort (Moehringia laterifolia,) which at a glance might be mistaken for sweet woodruff but that plant’s leaves are very different and its flowers have only four petals. It’s an easy plant to walk right by but it often grows in large colonies, and that makes it a bit easier to see. Blunt leaved sandwort is considered rare in some places but I can’t really say it’s rare here. I often find it growing in grass at the sides of roads and trails. Clusters of small (1/3”) white 5 petaled flowers dance at the end of long, weak stalks that often need the support of other plants. The stalks are covered with fine hairs and each flower…