July in May

 After weeks of cool spring weather, we got hit with five humid days near or above ninety.  Predictably, lots of things didn't handle it well, including me.  Some superstar plants shrugged off the weather and went about their business.  Above and below is dianthus 'Tatra Fragrance'.

 Candy!

Dianthus gratianoplitanus 'Tiny Rubies'

Saponaria pumilo

Helianthemum 'Wisley Primrose'

Gypsophilia repens 'rosea' just staring its show.

It rained hard last night as the front came through so today looks like a gardening day.

A Few More Spring Treasures

Our cool spring continues to offer up its delights.  Plants are on my mind so much these days that I had a dream last night about using a rare draba as collateral on a loan.  Sick, I know.

Above is globularia velutina.

This is a slightly different form of silene uniflora than last week's.  It has the good taste to produce a light pink flower to go with its bluish foliage.

Campanula chamissonis

Seedlings of saponaria ocymoides that decided to bloom this year.  They self-seeded into this trough from a huge, now-deceased saponaria in the trough above.

Spring Just Keeps Getting Better

Erigeron leiomerus

Veronica rupestris purpurea

Matthiola trojana (yes, very weird-looking, I agree).  These are not faded, old flowers.  That's how they open.

Androsace sarmentosa

Phlox douglasii 'Lilac Cloud'

Silene caroliniana

Silene uniflora

A Moment of Zen

Koreanspice viburnum blossoms on a moss-covered red stone.

Spring Jewels II

The rain finally stopped today after what seemed like 7 days straight.  The plants loved it; this gardener...not so much.  Above is penstemon rupicola 'Pink Holly', a tiny evergreen shrub.

It seems to love its raised position in a full-sun, sharp drainage trough.

Genista sp 'Boz Dag', with its yellow pea flowers.  It's just a baby and should fill out more over the years.

Daphne x 'Leila Hanes' (front) and pusatilla pratensis 'Bohemica' (back).  The daphne is a showy sprawler while the pasqueflower is quite shy and downward facing.

Draba arabisans

Calycanthus floridus seems happy enough in a big hypertufa planter.  I'm sure it would be happier in the ground, where it could sucker and reach its true 12' x 10' potential, but I just don't have room for it.  I love smelling its pineapple scent as I come down the stairs.