Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Common Vetch

This is another picture I took today of the gorgeous Common Vetch blossoms on our property. I was very pleased the way this image turned out with the use of a shallow depth of field.

4 more images in notes above! :) Back in June, I posted a bunch of pictures of the lovely Common Vetch blossoms that grow in one place on our property. This is another picture from that day!

1 more picture in a note above! These buds look just like Dutch clogs to me! I took these pictures back in June but I had so many images of Common Vetch that I just couldn't post them all! In fact, I will still have two more pictures to share at some point. I think that Common Vetch blossoms are so photogenic in all stages! You can see more of my Common Vetch pictures here! Common Vetch Blossoms and Tendrils

All over our property, we have these flowers blossoming everywhere right now, and I just love them! For years I thought these were called Wild Sweetpeas until I did some research and realized that a) this is called Common Vetch, and b) we have a close relative which is entirely different (and beautiful), and c) we don't even HAVE Wild Sweetpeas growing here!! :D :D And Wild Sweetpeas aren't even very close relatives...I couldn't have been more incorrect all these years! :D Silly me!! :D I have to say, it's been really great doing this Flowers of Spring project because I'm learning SO MUCH about the plants and flowers here! (animals too!) Common Vetch is considered a weed, but in livestock fields, it's a very nutritious addition to the grass they eat. In fact, this relative of the pea is specifically planted for this very reason, and is known to fatten up cattle better than most grass or other feed. It can actually be too rich and if there's too much vetch growing in a field, animals can get colic and other stomach problems by overeating. In ancient times, humans used to eat vetch, and remains dated back to Neolithic times have shown vetch as part of the diet of the time! The same evidence has been found in ancient Egypt, Rome, and the Bronze Age. Incidentally, just because it's usually only fed to livestock, the tips of new stems and the flowers are said to be quite nice to eat in salads! If you would like to know more about this flower, Wiki has a page here: Wiki: Common Vetch (Vicia sativa) Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :)

This afternoon I took the dogs out with me into our smaller meadow, and it was such a beautiful day. Warm, breezy, wonderful, perfect, the smell of warm grass was so nice, I wanted to stay out there for hours! The dogs had such fun, I laughed at their antics whenever I looked up to see what they were up to! For me, there were endless beautiful flowers to take pictures of, but I couldn't keep away from these stunning blossoms, called "Common Vetch", but hardly common when it comes to being beautiful! :) Carolyn Gold Heilbrun (January 13, 1926 – October 9, 2003) was an American academic and prolific feminist author of both important academic studies and popular mystery novels under the pen name of Amanda Cross. Wikipedia: Carolyn Gold Heilbrun