Crowds of bees are giddy with clover
     Crowds of grasshoppers skip at our feet,
Crowds of larks at their matins hang over,
     Thanking the Lord for a life so sweet.

Jean Ingelow

Tall and straggly, White Sweet Clover is not especially attractive, but it has a subtle, sweet scent while blooming.  It is much branched, with a loose, open growth habit, swaying easily in the breeze.

A favorite of bees and other insects, it is sometimes planted near domestic hives for honey production, and is also used as a hay and pasture crop or as green manure, enriching the soil due to its nitrogen-fixing properties.   Its genus name is from meli, a Greek word that means "honey".   It is also of value for game birds, which eat its seeds.

It is very drought resistant, and has escaped from domestic uses to become a common roadside weed.

It is almost identical to Yellow Sweet Clover except for the flower color, and it blooms about two weeks later.

Common along my lane, its scent and the hum of insects adds to my pleasure as I enjoy the outdoors.