Bittercress is a wild edible. Cardamine hirsuta, the genus name, is a member of the cress family.

The small weedy plant grows everywhere in my yard. When I weed in early spring, I always wear goggles or a pair of glasses if wild cress is growing in my garden beds. It has a peculiar habit of exploding seedpods when touched, and I’ve had them hit me full in the face while weeding. I don’t want one to scratch my cornea so I am always careful to wear eye protection when they are in their seed stage.

The flower of garden cress is smaller than a dime. Garden cress is a perfect micro-green. Maybe this year I’ll save some of those exploding pods and grow it in the house over winter for salads.

Dependable yellow crocuses are blooming in the gardens this week. Every year they are my first bulb plant to burst out of their buds. They are this week’s entry into Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge.