Plotting Blackberries

No, I don't mean that the blackberries are up to some nefarious no good - - although, come to think of it, those toothy little runners do seem awful eager to shred my ankles - - Maybe the little buggers are out there plotting to get me!!














But what I really meant was that I'm plotting where they are this year.

I don't know why, but the blackberries turn up in different places every year. I guess they have the wanderlust gene.



Which is no big deal while they are blooming, since the blackberries are the first thing to bloom every year



which makes it easy to spot the little white flowers, every one of which will hopefully turn into a fat, juicy berry.













But being the first to show, blackberry blossoms are also the first to go.  After that the berries can be pretty hard to locate.

Every one of those tiny little stamen connect back to what will become one of the many little balls of juicy goodness that makes up a berry/

And for such a tough little plant, the blossoms are surprisingly delicate and short lived.



Just a little bit of rain is enough to do them in.

So the trick is to have the camera ready and get some placement shots of the blossoms to act as little white homing beacons later when I'm ready to harvest the berries.