Flower ID

[Hobie]

Jack (Brooksbeefarm) - was the tiny blue flower you saw one of these?


Smaller Forget-Me-Not

I haven't seen bees on them, but they are in a high-traffic area where there are not many bees.

(Wanted to keep this out of the "blooms" database thread.)

[alleyyooper]

Yes plain Forget Me Nots. Amazing little plants, here they will live for a month or more under several inches of water. They grow nearly the whole streach of creek both banks on our property. The bees usally will be working them from time of bloom and the rest of the summer. I think they get found when the girls are gathering water.

Al

[brooksbeefarm]

Hobie, this flower looks alot like that but the leaves are different, more like miniature henbit leaves and the flower has it's own stem coming from the main stem with no leaves on it. After i read your post i went out this mourning to get a better look and pick one,but couldn't find one? After doing my chores and comming in for lunch (the sun was shining and had warmed up) i could see them and the bees working them. I noticed the ones in the shade the flower was closed and the ones in the sun the flower was open, that's why i didn't see them this mourning.Each flower has it's own stem coming from the main stem. Hobie, i made some calls to the Mo. Extension dept. and Mo. conservation Dept. and nobody seems to know,it seems to be new to our area and was only noticed last year after our bad ice strom. I called a master gardener in our bee club and she doesn't know what it is, but said it's all over her yard. Wish i was more computer savvy i'd post a picture. Maybe some of you know what it is? Jack

[Hobie]

Now I'm really curious! If you get a photo, you can always email it to me, and I can post it, or teach you how. The only other ideas I have is perhaps a variety of Speedwell, also known as Veronica. This page shows a number of varieties:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~hedgerow7/speedwells.htm

[tecumseh]

sounds like the same flower here Jack... closed up in the early morning and opens with the first sunshine. some of Hobie's pictures look somewhat right and the penny in the attached picture was certainly a good idea since it gives you some prospective on relative size. perhaps I can get mizz tecumseh to take a picture (she is a member of the master naturalist and so far no one there has identified the flower either). well as my mexican compadres say... maybe manyana.

[BjornBee]

Could it be one of the many varieties of chickweed. There are traditionally pure white. But there are "cousins" to chickweed that are light blue and a deeper blue. It is one of the earliest flowers in the spring, and usually grows best in plowed fields the following season, but will take anywhere it can. It is a very low grower.

http://www.altnature.com/gallery/chickweed.htm

[brooksbeefarm]

Maybe we can get an answer soon, there are several people looking into this flower now. The henbit, dead nettle, willows and soft maples are on the verge of blooming, then comes the sweet william's. Ahhh, the smell of spring. Jack

[Hobie]

Geez, here all we have is the sweet smell of snow and mud. That dang refrigerator we call Lake Erie!

[G3farms]

I saw a very tiny purple bloom this afternoon while cutting fence post in the woods.
It was very low to the ground and mixed in with some type of ivy (not poison ivy), If it does not rain tomorrow I will try to find it again and post a pic.
Go to the "did you see a bloom" post and ID those two.

G3

[Derek]

A good ID site is www.wildflower.org click on explore plants then plant database. You can seach by state, month, color, ect..it has been helpful for me.

[tecumseh]

dang ya' derek that a tea sipper web site!

[brooksbeefarm]

Still haven't got an I'd on this flower? Hobie, here's a little more info on it, it's about the same size as your picture but a darker blue almost purple with a yellow center. The leaves are like on henbit but very small and they have six points on them (two on each side and two on the end). the flower opens when the sun shines on them and when they are closed they hang down and look like little bells.I've talked to 2 master gardeners and they both have it in there yards but don't have a name for it. ( they say it's a weed) Kind of like when your sick and the doctor doesn't know what's wrong and says, you have a virus. Jack

[brooksbeefarm]

For those that had this little blue flower hiding in the grass. I think Hobie nailed it . It's called Slender Speedwell. Some days the bees are all over it and some days not, I have some spots that this flower sticks up above the grass. the picture that i posted in Did you see a Bloom can be down loaded by clicking on it. You can see the bee working it. Thanks Hobie. Jack