Spring is a little more fully committed now, more and more species are coming into flower!
A lesson in why common names are not very useful:like people in many areas, we call the popular yellow spring flowers 'cowslips' (that's cow slips, not cow's lips), but the plants we are referring to are Caltha palustris (called marsh marigold by some) not Primula veris, as that name might suggest in some other places..
The second name in my title--currants-- also has some possibility for confusion: I use it to refer to various species in the genus Ribes, along with gooseberries; we have several locally that I have not sorted out yet.. Originally, the name would have referred to tiny dried seedless grapes of Mediterranean origin, and has been applied to at least another half dozen unrelated berries in other places!
In the third case, Corydalis, I avoid use of a common name-first off, because I don't associate one with this plant-it's not spoken of enough locally to have a name here! and in any case, I wanted three words starting in 'C'.. Years ago, I thought this plant was called buffalo bean, but that is another low-growing yellow flowering plant-Thermopsis or similar... apparently in some places its called scrambled eggs, but that's an unflattering name, also inaccurate (if your scrambled eggs are that bright yellow.....) and frankly, I'd rather just use the genus name, associating it with its lovely cousins, especially Eurasian species, so loved by alpine and woodland gardeners....
see the album for more and larger pics..I haven't labelled the images yet today, but will soon..
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