In Bloom Today (June 2013)

Clematis addisonii.

Papaver orientale 'Turkenlouis'.

Papaver orientale 'Victoria Louise'

My Cabinet of Curiosities.

When I was a kid, I remember finding a Buttercup with a strange thickened stem and multi-petalled flower; I was fascinated by it, but no one could tell me what had caused this change in such a common plant.  

Now I know that this was caused by fasciation.  The reason for this condition is not easy to pin down, but the result is a genetic mutation that produces fantastic variations on a plants usual form, often with uproarious shapes and textures.

Echeveria agavoides 'Cordroyi'

Graptopeyalum?

Graptopetalum (saxifragoides?)

Echeveria runyoni

Pelargonium Foliage.

 Pelargoniums get a bad rap. Which is not surprising when you see the dreary plants that are produced in the millions for sale in supermarkets and big-box stores. I'm always mystified at what attracts the punters to these miserable plants with ratty flowers and dull lifeless foliage. Whatever it is, growers are happy to supply this nasty "product" into the marketplace. 

How much more pleasing are the Pelargonium species and the thousands of cultivars that have been developed over the centuries with fabulous foliage and often lovely simple flowers. I'm showing a few that I grow, that are easy and rewarding in flower (I only like single flowers) and all have wonderful foliage.

P. 'Golden Ears'

P. 'Alpha'

P. 'Crocodile'

P. 'Golden Ears', P. 'Alpha' and P. 'Crystal Palace Gem'

I think this is created by Toronto area hybridizer Will Grainger.

P. 'Charity'

P. 'Ray Bidwell'

P. 'Dolly Vardon'

Paeonia rockii

I bought a seedling of a Paeonia rockii hybrid four years ago from Les Jardin Osiris, a nursery just outside of Montreal. It was a rather weak looking thing, but I persevered until finally last year it set buds;  but I was immediately disappointed when I discovered that they all had been eaten by some insect.
 I decided that this was the last year that I would put up with this plant and had already planned to replace it with another peony. However this year it looked spectacular in all its parts, lovely foliage and four or five big buds, I missed the opening of the first flower when I was away on a visit to Montreal, but since my return, two more flowers have opened and they are fabulous!
These hybrids produce a great variety of flower forms and colours and I was delighted with my pink flower with the typical dark eye of the P. rockii.

My very own Paeonia rockii.

In Bloom Today.

Erigeron aureus  "Canary Bird'.

Viola 'Sorbet Orange Duet'.

Blue and White.

This little urban front garden is not usually a pretty sight, but on a rainy day last week it stopped me in my tracks.  For a short while it's a thing of beauty; on a hot sunny day it might not have been so outstanding, but in the low light and humid atmosphere of that moment it seemed to shine.
 Soon the mix of blue and white violets will fade and even the foliage will be flattened by the lawn mower reducing this garden to the unremarkable patch of green bordered with daylilies and fenced in with chain-link.

Springtime Foliage.

Erythronium 'Pagoda' and Ligularia japonica.