B is for blackcaps

 I am so excited because this spring we planted black raspberries! We only planted a few of them, but I have high hopes!! 

We had some blackberries growing wild on this property when we bought our house one year ago--but sadly they were super seedy (huge seeds!) and sour...and very prolific! SO we made the big decision to pull those out and purchase some raspberry and black raspberry plants. 

They arrived as little dead-looking sticks with roots on them...and we had to wait a few weeks until the soil had thawed. We planted them about three weeks ago and some of them finally have some teeny leaves popping out!

Can you tell I'm excited? I love the new growth all around us this time of year! :) 

(ps. Growing up we always called black raspberries blackcaps. I wonder if there is a specific type that is called the blackcap or if it's just a colloquial name? I'll have to look that up!)