Pasque Flower – Pulsatilla vulgaris

Another charmer from the RHS London Plant Fair today, the Pasque Flower. In spring, upright or semi-pendant, bell-shaped (or narrowly bell-shaped) silky-hairy flowers in shades of deep to pale purple. This variety, Pulsatilla vulgaris Blaue Glokke. And isn't it beautiful! Grow in an alpine house, rock garden or scree. I'm in love.

Dicentra spectabilis

Bleeding Heart, Dutchman's Breeches or the Lyre Flower and now, more properly, Lamprocapnos. Beautiful spring perennials with pendant heart-shaped flowers, in pink, white, purple or red held on arching, fleshy stems. Brittle too. Growing over a metre tall. The white form, alba, is more robust, producing flowers until midsummer. A relatively new variety, Valentine, first introduced…