“Blossoms to Berries” By Annie Watson
June is the month when the wild berry plants blossom here in the north country. As I write, blackcaps (aka black raspberries or rubus occidentals) are blooming. This unassuming little flower is a big favorite of honey bees. The first blackberry (rubus alligheniensis) flowers are about to open. When the patch by our beehives is in full bloom, it looks like a beautiful May snowstorm all around the beehives.
Now is the time, when the white flowers make them easy to spot, to locate your wild blackberry patches at the edges of fields and in the meadow. Note where they are so you can come back and pick the fruit in July. Look for the first ripe berries about a month after flowering — and thank the bees and other pollinators, because without them, there would be no summer fruit, purple, sweet, and juicy on a hot summer day.