Mystery Solved.

It was an oddly warm winter around here. Out in the back garden I noticed a crumple of green in a corner where I hadn't remembered planting anything exciting. It alarmed me, becuase I thought that the weather was so unreasonable that the plants were beginning to venture forth only to freeze in some February regression. It had to be a persistent weed, I decided. Should be interesting to see what happens to it.

Nothing happened to it. That confirmed to me that it had to be a weed. Worthwhile plants have to be pretty special to survive tenure under my black thumb, so I doubted it was a cultivated plant. Spring came and the plant stretched forth modestly like a young child awakening from a refreshing sleep, and one day I noticed flower buds on it. I was thoroughly puzzled.

Now, I'm always going off to the nursery in the spring to find annuals to plant, since perennials invariably die in my garden. I even carefully planted the lamium that my gardening book warned would take over aggressively (which was exactly what I hoped it would do) but it too died. I get a couple of flats of begonias for the beds, and impatiens to scatter around in pots; and then I foolishly wander off to the shade perennial section, where Spring and my emotions invariably get the better of me, and I end up buying things I hadn't at all planned on and have no idea where I will plant.

Sometimes this isn't a bad plan, since I forget all about them and then of course I am not hurt when they die, as I expect them to. And it's such a happy surprise when they survive. Every year we get at least one surprise. You just never know what's next in our yard. In fact I regularly do it with bulbs. I plant whatever appeals to me somewhere in our woodsy yard, and have a pleasant surprise every year.

This year the surprise was this Pasque flower, so named because it blooms right around Easter time. Well, it's two weeks late, but I forgave it. If it lives, it's welcome around here. I had to get on the Web to track down what it could be.

Of course it's poisonous, which is delightful.