Yesterday I ordered some Doronicum Leopards Bane Caucasicum Finesse seeds. There's a good image on Google if you're interested, just copy and paste the name in, and click Images.

I would have been happy with regular Leopards Bane, but I couldn't get it locally, so I went on the Internet and found this little beauty. It's so pretty, I hope the seeds will take as I hear LBane can be difficult to start. It flowers just after the daffodils so it's something to keep the garden cheerful until the May flowers start appearing.

I will never understand why some of the most beautiful plants have the most boring names, and 'crab apple' is one. For instance, take a look at the new addition to our garden family, it's a Ornamental Crabapple (Malus Prairiefire).

I saw it at the garden centre a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with it. I has pinkish red flowers and purple red fruit, although I shall leave them for the birds as they are very small. I just got it for the colour in the spring to brighten up my world. Isn't it beautiful?

Here is a closeup, taken by my husband who has the patience to wait until the wind stops blowing the blossom around!

The branches are so heavy with blossom this year, the tree looks as though it's a weeping crab.