Coming on strong

Sometimes Thalia marks the beginning of the end of the bulb season; sometimes it's the pheasant-eye or poet narcissi Geranium, Flower Record, Actaea, and the like. We're seeing lots of Thalia, plus saucer-sized clematis blooms from our Albertson's 99-cent specimen, and some red Drummond phlox. There are still more anemone and ranunculus blooms than we've had in years, perhaps ever, but certainly more than in at least a decade. Remarkably, they've stood up extremely well to winds, hail, and torrents. Oaks are blooming; pecans are showing first buds.