Serendib Garden

Pulmonaria and hosta. Lovely perennials doing their weed-blocking thing. 

Groundcover combo: deadnettle (I think maybe Purple Dragon?) and ajuga (maybe Chocolate Chip?). With a little Virginia waterleaf sneaking in at the top…

Hm. This tree peony confuses me, as it seems like it has two different kinds of buds — the round ones look more like herbaceous buds. Is that typical? It’s only two years in my garden.

Columbine are like hellebore — sometimes you have to tip the blooms up to really see how pretty they are. Most of mine are a random assortment, but I think this one, which is notably shorter than most, but also larger, might be “Big Blue.”

Wood hyacinths just starting to bloom.

Anyone know what this lovely tree is? Spotted in Mills Park.

Jack-in-the-pulpit, another native with a great name.  And such an unusual appearance. The roots are apparently edible, but only with some serious treatment — you have to let them dry for at least six months, then roast them, then grind them to mix in with flour…otherwise, you can get severe irritation of the mouth. I’m having

Native pink trillium, aka wake-robin, presumably named such because they bloom in spring when the robins are warbling like mad? ‘Wake-robin’ is just a great name for a flower. 

Lily-of-the-valley getting ready to bloom — quick reminder to locals that I’m planning on replacing most of mine with native ground cover, so if you want to come dig up a few for a Mother’s Day gift, please feel free.