Plants Waking Up Right Now

I don't know why this Sorbaria sorbifolia 'Sem' has decided it's a good idea to fully leaf out with a good deal of winter still left, but I am grateful that it takes the risk.  The red-tinged, translucent new growth glows in the sunlight, making this time of year its high season in terms of interest.  By summertime it fades into just another old shrub.

Euphorbias are such weird plants.  This Euphorbia characias is starting to shoot its chartreuse suction cup stalks toward the sky.

There is no such thing as having too many hellebores - especially black ones.

The cold-hardy banana (Musa basjoo) has sailed through this cold season without any protection.  The pseudo-stems are currently about 10' tall, so I'm hoping they will reach their full height of about 20' this summer.

Artichokes (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus) make a great edible landscaping plant for us in the Northwest.  They should be grown in the perennial border as opposed to the vegetable garden.  The flowering stalks completely die down in the fall, but new rosettes of foliage resume growing from the roots and if the winter is mild like it was this year, they can be almost considered evergreen.  Few things grow as rapidly in our miserable March weather as artichokes.

Here is my pea scaffolding.  It's a bit wobbly, but anything made of bamboo and zip ties has to be indestructible, right?  There are some radishes to the right of the stepping stones that have already sprouted.

Finally, a shot of the rapidly emerging leaves of Cardiocrinum giganteum (Giant Himalayan lily).  This will be its third year, meaning 3-5 more years before blooming.