Henbit is one of the most prolific spring weeds. At first I'm glad to see it as it is one of the earliest blooming backyard plants and the little pink tubular blossoms are a welcome sight. According to Wikipedia, honeybees also love them and they help get the hives going. A spring tonic for all concerned.
It's a member of the mint family, as its appearance would suggest: square stems, opposite leaves, tubular flowers. As a soil indicator (one of the beneficial features of weeds) it signals moist, rich soil -- which makes sense to me because in our yard it grows densely around the raised beds. It is said to be edible but we have not experimented with it.
After the forget-me-nots start blooming around the beds I begin to pull out the henbit because it can easily take over whatever spot it favors.
2 comments:
Just discovered today that my guinea pigs love to eat this weed. Found your website when I looked for pictures of this weed. Will be reading your other blogs. Thanks for posting.
Well, that's a good indicator that it might be edible, isn't it? Thanks for the comment, and best wishes to your guinea pigs!
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