Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: fodder vetch

(+4 insets!) (Please view large for best impact!) Since we got back from our trip, the floral extravaganza continues to explode here as it does every year. One of the plants that grows in massive carpets all over is Hairy Vetch, which is a member of the pea or legume family. This non-native plant is found all over the US because it is a favored companion crop in agriculture and livestock love to eat this healthy forage. It features lovely sprigs of lavender and purple blossoms that catch the light and glow like beacons. In the morning as the sun casts its beams across our meadow and road, thousands of Vetch flowers light up and glow warmly. Its wonderful translucent leaves glow as well, and looking closely, the tendrils can be seen grasping onto anything within reach. I have taken many pictures of these pretty flowers so I did my best to resist. This morning I finally caved to the irresistible beauty of this yearly show. And so I went inside and reemerged with my camera, relieved to finally give in to the calls from the flowers. I thought it would be a nice choice to share such a lovely sight for Mother's Day, and I'll be posting some of my archive pictures too, and a couple of other flower pictures to celebrate all of you mothers out there! Perhaps I fit in the mix too, even though I've never been a biological mom…I am certainly a mother to all of my companions through the years and nurture them with all the love any doting mother has! :) Pam, you didn't have anything for "Mother's Day" so I found a picture of a pair of your kids in "Paw Prints on the Heart". You are such a good mama, and this pair of rainbow pups sure did love you! :) HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY PAM!!! *BIG HUGS* Explored on 5/13/19; highest placement #6.

(+2 images in notes) We have a very pretty wildflower that grows profusely in this area called Vetch (Several varieties including Common and Hairy). It's in the legume (pea) family, which means it's a climbing plant. Climbing means TENDRILS and anyone that knows me, knows how much I love them! Almost exactly a year ago, Steve and I went on a photo walk along the Rogue river and I found a patch of vetch climbing whatever it could find...in this case, it was clinging to a blade of grass! :)

This beautiful wildflower erupts during the late spring in a near carpet of purple all over our property, especially in our meadows but also in our lower forest. I love the graceful appearance of each blossom, aren't they lovely?! This flower is native to Europe and western Asia. It's part of the legume, or pea, famliy, and is grown as a forage crop for livestock. It's now found all over the United States and Australia. Vetch is an important crop for revitalizing soil that need nitrogen, and is often planted as a companion to certain plants like tomatoes, which need nitrogen-rich soil. If you would like to know more about Hairy Vetch, Wiki has a page here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicia_villosa

I was taking pictures of the beautiful Hairy Vetch blossoms when I saw some of the tendrils clinging to one of the fence posts along the road. How pretty, I thought, and what a nice picture this would make!