Here's a few that are showing their best right now:
I've never been in a big fan of the genus Geum, but this one, G. 'Mango Lassi', introduced by Blooming Nursery a couple years ago, is doing particularly well. I had not realized that it was such an early bloomer. It looks like it might have some G. rivale blood in it, due to those slightly nodding buds. In any case, the multi-coloured flowers are double, profuse and relatively large.
I can remember trying years ago, a Euphorbia polychroma 'Purpurea', which was nice upon emergence with dark foliage, but quickly faded to a non-descript, washed-out colour by early summer. The newer E. polychroma 'Bonfire', picture below, is a significant improvement. The combination at the moment of the dark foliage and yellow flowers is almost entrancing. In addition, it holds the colour of its foliage all summer.
Mid-July '06
Finally, Pulmonaria 'Samurai' (P. 'Majeste' × P. longifolia var. cevennensis) appears to be a winner. Bright silver foliage and good production of pleasant blue flowers. There was no mildew at all last year. Although, of the 5-6 plants that are in the garden, I did notice a couple having slightly different colouration on the leaves, and wondered if there was some reversion?
