Bing cherry with a couple flowers at its tips: This is only the second year it has been in the ground. Have a strange theory, I think what really helped is that the lower part of the tree gets some partial shade in Winter, with the sun being at a lower angle. The shade allows the lower part of the tree to accumulate more effective chill hours (because "chill" actually has more to do with daytime highs than nighttime lows). This means the lower part of the tree can start leafing out earlier, and this growth sends hormones out through the tree to help the upper branches start coming out of dormancy. I only count about 10 blossoms on it though, which is not surprising since Bing does have a very high chill requirement. My Rainier is loaded with blossoms though. This Winter was unusually cold for this area (zone 10, south of Los Angeles) so that probably helped. Spring time here tends to begin in late February. I do not see any bees coming out this early in the year, so if you're in this area you might have to do the cross pollination by hand if you want any cherries. I suspect the timing of the bees coming out has to do with what type of flowering plants are prevelent in this region, which is different than the rest of the country.

I saw the photos of this masterpiece the first time around but was thrilled to sit through a more extensive tour - even if I had to remove my boots. Ha! newdawn, when we bought our house, the heating/lights/water bill here was more than our old house's mortgage! igloochick, you will have to put in intercoms for DS and any future ice cubes... My kids were young when we moved into our house and they would loose me. My house isn't nearly as big as your will be. We painted our house for $17,000. You have one lifetime project ahead of you.

Hi Rebecca! I love Scabiosa as well, they really add to the cottage garden look! I was going to buy a few the beginning of July, but decided to pass until I see how the current residents fill out next year. The corner I'm trying to fill in is all wild bush at the moment! It's the very corner of my lot, and my little ones use the path that goes through it to get to the bus. It's backed by a tree line, and has a lot of shade except one corner, which gets full sun. I'll put a picture in, of the area :) I have a post on here somewhere asking about larger rose bushes that will do in that specific spot (lots of wind, very cold etc) ...I've been given so many wonderful ideas from members I'm having a hard time choosing now! This is the area :) it goes further along to the left, about 15-20ft Where the small sapling is on the right, is where the single rose bush will go. There's a path in there somewhere as well, although it's not visible from this angle :) The lower hanging branches and smaller saplings along the tree line will be removed in fall, along with all the weeds! (Hahaha) To the back, we're planting Annabelle Hydrangeas, Hosta, Astilbe & Ostrich Fern (there's about 4 hours of light there) Next layer in more light (5hrs) will be low growing catmint, lupine, allium, tulips, daffodils, etc. We're trying to fit in a clematis or two, but I'm not sure where yet :) I need some pinks and reds in there.

Thank you so much for the research, comparative descriptions and photos, Anita! The Sacramento Moss sure sounds like and looks like my Moss in so many details. I'm certainly feeling like Laneii is a solid tentative ID. I wonder how many versions of Laneii are in commerce? My Moss (you can see that in my mind, I've already embraced it as my own) will probably be out of bloom when I visit Paul's garden next weekend, but if his Laneii is in bloom, maybe we can give it a close examination, and I can take some photos for comparison. (My photos will look nothing like Paul's professional quality images, so no one get your hopes up). Again, much thanks, Anita! Stay tuned for more to come in the second chapter of the Mystery Moss story.... Carol