It has a lot of names–creeping charlie, ground ivy, gill-over-the-ground. It’s a weed. But its tiny, delicate, detailed flowers are potent enough to turn acres of fields purple soon after the last hard freeze of the year. When Creeping Charlie is fighting the dandelions for space in my backyard, I know it is spring.
Creeping Charlie (or, more officially, Glechoma hederacea.)
For me, one of the most fascinating things about moving into a new home is watching what pops up in the yard once the growing season begins. Our house, a modest folk Victorian, has been standing for 112 years, which means people have been digging and planting in our yard for more than a century.
Despite the possibility of snow this week (snow! in April!), all of the plants–grass, weeds, flowers–are poking their heads through the soil. I noticed today that patches of speedwell are enjoying the damp ground right now, their tiny blue striped petals tilting toward the sky.
Tiny speedwell blossoms, each smaller than the head of a nail, carpet the damp soil in the backyard.
Diana Staresinic-Deane 