Plants of the week...Kerria japonica, Fritillaria imperialis (etc.)...and a yacht.

First, a couple beauties from "my" gardens...

Here's a promo for Kerria japonica, the lovely shrub with bright green arching stems that bloom like so at this time of year.

Hard to capture its loveliness on camera--a very delicate fountain of round yellow buds held on the topside of the branches, blooming first from the tips. Every spring, Anne & I congratulate ourselves for planting it next to the front steps, where everyone gets a top-down view (and where it remains an attractive specimen with its fresh green colour and vase-like shape throughout the season.)

And below, the Fritillaria imperialis at Roswitha's are suddenly set to burst. If I miss them, I will be rightfully ticked, as this is the first time I've grown them.

And...a cycle-by garden on a harbour-front road in Vancouver over the weekend. Isn't this an amazing combination...

Purple heather, red-stemmed 'Senkaki' Japanese maple, and the chartreuse flowers of Euphorbia characias 'Wulfenii'. Love it.

And below, this was a moment that I wish I could have shared with every sentient being in the universe.

There was a biting wind off the harbour, the sky was clear sunshine and cherry clouds, and the air was a wild pink petal-storm. Gotta love the west coast.

And oh ya, there was this yacht. The biggest yacht I've ever seen. That is a tanker in close proximity, for scale. I'm not particularly interested in yachts, but this was like a UFO landing.