Depending on the winter, the Lenten rose can be a gorgeous show-off or a bedraggled mess. The past few years have seen the former, and a decade and a half of living with us has allowed this specimen to mature into a bloody good performer. These long-lived plants take a while to get going – quite a while in fact – and for about five years the only thing this one did was push up a few leaves. I had faith. It paid off.
Most years this variety nods its flower-heads toward the ground, and the interior rarely faces upward, denying viewers a look at its gorgeously unique design. This time around, however, we got a much better look at the lenten rose blooms, as they raised their heads and nodded to the sky. Even after fifteen years, flowers reserve the right to surprise and change course, and in the most beautiful of manners.
