Persian speedwell - my lawn is buzzing

My lawn is buzzing, but only in the morning.  Then it is silent.

Persian speedwell (Veronica persica) is one of the many flowering weeds that grows in my lawn.  It grows by itself and has lovely blue flowers in Spring.  Honey bees, hover flies, and other insects love the flowers.

Each morning the bees collect pollen and nectar from the flowers.

Persian speedwell has pretty blue flowers

There are so many bees on the Persian speedwell early each morning that my lawn hums.  You can hear the lawn from quite some distance because it is absolutely filled with foraging bees.  While honey bees dominate, there are also some hover flies and a few other little insects collecting nectar and pollen.

Once they have emptied all the flowers they leave and my lawn is silent again.  The following morning new flowers will open and the humming will begin again.

Honey bees and hover flies seem to like the flowers

The Persian speedwell started out as a few small plants in among the lawn a few years ago.  I allowed it to spread, and now it covers a considerable amount of the front lawn and is starting to pop up around the back.

It is usually only there for part of Spring, then it sets seed and dies. 

I took these photos a little while ago, most of my lawn is now brown and dead.  There are still a few patches of Persian speedwell about in sheltered positions.  It will die off soon, then the seeds will be ready in the soil for next spring.

Persian speedwell feeding bees and spreading slowly

I am not sure if Persian speedwell is edible or useful in any way.  I don't really care.  I don't water it, I don't plant it, I don't collect its seed, I don't tend it, it just grows when it is time and feeds bees and other beneficial insects. 

Persian speedwell and other weeds in my spring lawn

Persian speedwell is only low growing, so when I mow the lawn I often only take a little off the top and it is able to flower not too long afterwards.

The main down side to Persian speedwell is that it is only ephemeral and not there for much of the year.

I am glad that there are little flowering weeds like this around, and I am glad that I now live in an area where things like this are able to survive.  I wish I had more little flowering lawn weeds like this.