Firsts

It's the first time I have seen this wall of rhododendron bloom like this in a client's garden. It's not like I could miss seeing this some how in the last three, or is it four years now?

The baptisia I grew from seed are having their first bloom of any significance on their third year in the ground. I have troubles with baptisia. They don't grow to the huge sizes I see in properly tended gardens with mulched beds and good spacing when faced with the stiff competition of the wild cultivated gardens. Here they remain meek, a flicker of blue in the Lush.

The seed scattering of the False Solomon's Seal, Maianthemum racemosum, many years ago is showing up in blooms now. When they become large drifts it is a sight to behold.

This biennial Phacelia bipinnatifida has always been one here, one there, never a mass until this year. What makes them decide to go bold is a mystery. This is one of three phacelia species on the mountain.

I hope it is the first and last time a damn caterpillar eats one of my Yellow Lady Slipper's embryonic flower buds before it ever has a chance to see the light of day. That caterpillar will not be having its metamorphosis into adulthood.

Last year I had two flowers. Now it is back to one. At least the violated plant is intact.