Some garden delights

A few of my purchases from last year have bloomed recently, much to my delight. Although some have a way to go before they reach their full size, their progress is encouraging.

Fothergilla 'Mt Airy' may not look particularly special, but its white bottebrushes have a rich honey fragrance that the bees love. Elsewhere I've posted pictures of its spectacular fall foliage.

Nearby is another white-flowered treasure, the tiny Dodecatheon dentatum, with a beak of reddish-brown stamens and swept-back petals like the plumage of an exotic bird.

Under the red-edged leaves of Corylopsis pauciflora, the larger and more common Dodecatheon meadia leans over some Anemone blanda 'Vestal' and the blades of snowdrops.

Just opening at the end of May, blue Geranium x magnificum, my favourite of this extensive family, is in bloom alongside pale yellow Trollius 'Cheddar'.

A close-up of the geranium, taken in the rain, shows the beauty of the individual flowers with their magenta veins.

My latest acquisition is less showy, but nevertheless a charming woodlander. It is a small clematis, Clematis ochroleuca, which only grows about 12 inches tall. So far mine has produced only one of these pretty little two-tone bells, but I have great hopes of more next spring once the plant has settled in.