Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms--More New Flowers (April 22, 2012)

A mini-heat wave has accelerated activity in the garden. New plants are coming into bloom daily. Yesterday saw the first blooms on the large white-flowered Rock Rose called "Elma," and on Rosa mutabilis--which, as it's name suggests is a rose. This one is notable for the way the color of the flowers change. The buds are deep pink. The flowers open pink but quickly fade to yellow and then almost white. Today some of the helianthemums started blooming and I noticed the first flowers also on the Jerusalem sage (Phlomis fruiticosa), a real stalwart that blooms reliably year after year with almost no attention (photo). The first German irises in the garden have begun to bloom in the past few days as well.