Sunshine for the soul

Being in the garden for part of this past sunny weekend revealed some surprises. I am familiar with the way that the delicate blooms of Tulipa tarda are clamped shut at morning and evening . . .



. . . but blast open in the sun.



But the lush blooms of "Apricot Impression" held quite a surprise. The exteriors are tinted the most soft and subtle shades of pink, peach, and rose.



On a sunny afternoon, their interiors are splayed open, looking more like poppies--orange with a central sooty eye--than tulips.



Other changes has been taking place in the raingarden, where wet-tolerant plants like Joe Pye weed Eupatorium purpureum "Gateway," northern sea oats Chasmanthium latifolium, clethra "September Beauty," and three black-eyed susans Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii "Goldsturm" went in over the weekend. But it's not looking sunny around there yet.