What's In Full Bloom

I'm leading with a long shot of the rock garden because so often the long shots don't look like much because the patches of color are too small to look very good to the camera. But I think in this view you can tell that there really is some blooming going on here.

A number of plants I've previously featured are still blooming. Here is one that is now in full bloom. Two patches of this survived from the old rock garden. This is Wall Cress, Arabis sturii. It's pretty happy, I could probably turn the two patches into three or four.

Here's the first daffodil surprise. There are lots of leaves for this daffodil. The leaves also came up last year, but this year some of them bloomed. I haven't seen any of these flower since before 2010. This is Hawara daffodil, a popular choice for rock gardens. They are pretty small this year, but there are quite a few buds, so I think next year there will be quite a few healthy ones.

The other daffodil surprise makes me really happy. There is one flower, but there are tons of the leaves which are little round tubes, so they are easy to identify. This is an heirloom daf, called 'Hoop Petticoat.' They only get about 4" tall. Again, I don't think any have bloomed since before 2010. I'll be really happy to see these come back.

Now we'll move away from the rock garden. This is a shrub I love, but it only seems to bloom about every other year, and mine has never gotten very large. This is a flowering quince.

I shared the cowslip primrose Primula veris when they were just opening. Now they are in full bloom. There is too much sun in this picture to see them well. I keep forgetting to take a picture in the morning. But you can tell they are very happy.

This is the 'Frostbite' Brunnera with the blue flowers. I now have one of these and two of the more easily found to purchase 'Jack Frost.' I like this one best. It begins to leaf out and blooms earlier than the Jack Frost, and the leaves get whiter later in the summer too. Flanked by the 'Dark Knight,' 'Peach Flambe,' and 'Cathedral Windows' Heuchera, it looks great!

The mower isn't running yet. I got gas. I got an extension for my socket set so I could tighten the steering wheel. But the battery doesn't seem to be charged. I'm going to see if I can get the retailer to charge it or replace it. After all, one expects to get a working machine for a pile of money.

Medium energy day with a medium amount of things accomplished. Well, actually, I did quite a bit. It's all good.

See Blooming Today