Cercis canadensis this week cuts a dash in the garden. It’s a red-violet riot against the sky. But beautifully foiled at ground-level by Amelanchier (though I’m unsure if it’s A. canadensis or European form snowy mespilus A. lamarckii) – the white lights in the next image. But I love that it’s commonly known in North America as the eastern shadbush, or shadblow, for the small fish that run in some north eastern streams when the tree flowers.

Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis Alba’ likewise last week gave the C. c. fuzz some frame in three. And beyond the fireworks a small discovery today in four: Viola sororia, another North American. Stellar, for sure, yet how it landed here from Minnesota remains a mystery.