Tiny Little Flowers

There was some light rain today, but not enough to keep us indoors. I ran out with the camera to capture three diminutive flowers blooming in the perennial bed along the driveway. All of these are growing in part-shade, under the mountain ash tree.

Firstly, I have been encouraging the painfully slow growth of this pink-flowered lily of the valley. Yes, I know. It is ridiculous that I keep its territory free of weeds and speak kind and encouraging words to this plant, which is widely known as invasive in many gardens. It has been in this location for three years now and I'm hoping for more exciting flower shows than this:
Convallaria rosea:


This tiny Primula frondosa plant could easily fit in the palm of your hand. It came from my friend Barbara, who fawns over primulas like darling children. This flower is rather cute:


From the same friend, I got this little Aquilegia glandulosa last year. Even with the flowers, the whole plant is less than 6 inches tall.

The other dwarf Aquilegia (Black Currant Ice) in this bed seemed to have died over winter. Speaking of which, it seems the bleeding hearts, hostas, Digitalis grandiflora, and sandcherries are also dead. I planted some perennial seeds under lights in the basement today, realizing that I'm going to need to fill a lot of empty spaces this year.