Bleeding Hearts

I went to Plantworld (Royal York and Eglinton in Toronto) on the weekend and came home with a new hybrid Bleeding Heart.  You can see from the photo that it's striking in its colour combination of the deep pink and white, and that it's not down-facing but out-facing.  Makes the poor grandma bleeding hearts turn their heads even further down!  I looked the plant up in Wikipedia and it was brought to the west from Japan by Robert Fortune for the Royal Horticultural Society in 1846.   

Enjoy this new hybrid of an antique and ancient plant!

Magnolia Sieboldiana

The house at the corner has a very large Magnolia Sieboldiana.  This member of the Magnolia family is typically not hardy here (zone 6 in Toronto).  The hardy varieties, e.g. Star and Saucer, bloom before their leaves are out.  The Sieboldiana blooms in June, after the leaves are out, and over a long period of time - about a month.  The scent of these blooms is somewhat different than the other magnolias.  Their scent is a combination of melon and lemon - wonderfully refreshing.  The Sieboldiana has an additional floral element of lilac and jasmine. It is quite divine, so worth searching out!

Here's a portrait I did earlier in the week.