The 2010 peony season opened on Tuesday with (as usual here) the flowering of Paeonia mascula. Nearby is a handsome plant of Dicentra spectabilis – their colors are very similar. I should move in some Pulmonaria azurea for a great color contrast. Things are happening so quickly this year that I can’t keep up. Frits and early tulips have been coming into bloom and shriveling two days later. Most came and went before I got pictures. The garden is full of odd flower combinations this year for sure. We’ve had several days this week when the temperatures not only reached 90º F (~ 32 C) but remained there for hours. At 8:30 P.M. last night, the temperature was 86º F – and it did not cool down quickly. Storms are predicted for this evening as a cold front arrives. The daily highs during the approaching weekend are expected to be about 30º F lower. I’m not positive, but I think I see the tip of an inflorescence on Dracunculus vulgaris already. I don’t mow the front lawn here until the snowdrops and crocuses have ripened their seed. As a result we typically have the shabbiest looking lawn in the neighborhood while everyone who has been applying high nitrogen fertilizers has a picture perfect lawn. The heat this year has made it worse then ever – the lawn is dingy white this week with the flowers of weedy Cardamine. I’m waiting for the lawn police to knock on the door (But officer, I just wanted to get a good seed collection from my snowdrops…). Early roses are said to have started to bloom in one local garden – but not here yet (although some which just arrived from a California nursery are in advanced bud – very exciting stuff here). Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7; geez, Jane, multiscapidium? And the seven syllables of multiscapoideum were so much more fun to pronounce (not that I really ever heard anyone do it correctly). My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/