What's Blooming Now

I've been so busy taking pictures of all the spring flowers in my yard, that I've completely neglected to post any. Here's a quick run-down of the past few days:

A crocus, not planted by me, growing by my composter.

Another "pink" daffodil

More garden weirdness. Thalia daffodils growing really well under less than optimal conditions. This little bed gets very weedy no matter how hard I work at it. And it's a race every year for the foliage to store enough food as the bed gets progressively shadier as the leaves develop on the over-hanging tree.
Meanwhile, in the sunny (relatively) weedfree bed by the UGF (Ugly Green Fence), Thalia doesn't do well at all.
It seems to like shade. And competition. This is the Purple Garden which is shaded half the day. These Thalia were planted years ago. They have to compete with aggressively spreading asters. As you can see, they are lovin' it!

Here's an example of disappointment and pleasant surprise in the same bed. These are supposed to be Fortissimo Daffodils. In the catalog, they are large yellow daffodile with bright orange cups. In person, they are pretty but not outstanding. Right behind them. . .

Iris bucharica. It's from Afghanistan and I learned AFTER I planted it last year that it likes wet springs and dry summers. Kinda like Afghanistan. Duh! I was sure it wouldn't make it through our wet New Jersey summer. It not only made it, it spread! Since it is doing so well, I'm going to move it in the fall to the front of the bed to really showcase it in the spring. I love happy surprises, don't you?

Speaking of happy surprises, remember the not so pink daffodil from earlier in the week?

Apparently it opens yellow and then turns "pink". I had read about flowers that change color after they open but had never seen it.

The jury is still out on these tulips.

They are supposed to be a Monet pastel mix of colors. I'm hoping that this is just a case of the white ones opening before the other colors. This is just one bunch, by the way. There are more of them in the bed with the "pink" daffodils. There are also Angelique tulips and Greenland tulips that bloom later in the season. The idea was to maintain a consistent color scheme in the entry Bed through a long blooming season.

I'm convinced that this bed is jinxed!