The dogtooth lily leaves are up & more beautiful than hostas. The
hardiest of all dogtooth lilies, the yellow hybrid called "Pagoda," has
always done spectacularly well, but a little pink one, E. dens-canis, did
not do much last year. Right now though I see it not only is leafing up
beautifull, it is actually leafing up in a foot-wide area with lots & lots
& lots of leaves, though I'm pretty sure only one had been planted from a
pot into that location. I now wonder if the pink failed to bloom in 2003
because it was being exclusively energetic about reproducing itself
underground. Some of the yellow "Pagoda" have been in their spots for four
years & never spread like that, though they certainly do get bigger &
better every year.

Trillium leaves are also getting quite lovely, especially the mottled ones.

The kaufmanniana tulips are blooming this week, though the majority of
other species tulips are still only leaves.

The last of the yellow crocuses to flower in our garden is "Stellaris."
When they began to appear, I realized I'd kind of screwed up last year
when I planted a Kehr azalea in an "empty" spot which turns out to be
right over the "Stellaris." They've been popping up around the edge of the
azalea. Oh well; they still look nice, but it's no longer a whole big
drift of them.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/