We have quite a lot of sumac shrubs around the mountain. There are several fairly large shrubs behind the house. They must be a bee’s dream, because every summer when the sumac blooms the bees swarm around them. I walk by one every time I take the dogs around the house. This is what it looked like a few days ago.

It seemed to have at least one of every kind of bee.

Our sumac produces creamy white flowers. There are some down on Huffaker Road that produce deep red flowers. One of our neighbors thinks sumac is poisonous, but this variety is not. The Wikiepedia article says that varieties with white drupes (fruit) are poisonous. I routinely pull small shoots out of the ground with my bare hands and have never had the kind of skin reaction that its relative poison ivy causes. According to that article, “true” Rhus species have red fruit. I don’t recall actually seeing red drupes on our sumac, but Leah assures me that’s what color they are. I’ll have to pay more attention later this year.

The major drawback of sumac in my view is that it spreads vigorously along its root system. If you cut one large sumac, its children continue to develop for years from the root system. That makes it hard to control. The Wikipedia article suggests goats as a control method. I doubt we’ll resort to that.