Young leaves of variegated butterbur could scarcely be wilder, with the creamy portions nearly overwhelming the green. In coming weeks, the leaves will expand mightily, to about a foot across. The riotous coloring keeps pace, at least for a time, making this muscular perennial a star of the late-Spring and early-Summer garden. 

In Winter and early Spring, the twigs of my espaliered 'Winter Orange' lindens are orange, and the leaf buds are coral pink. They demanded underplantings that would provide colorful commentary. 'Zwanenburg' crocuses are reportedly the orangest of the orange. Orange enough? 

The growth of plants that form colonies, not individual clumps, originates from a number of different points underground. What's above ground—the emerging shoots—looks misleadingly orderly: New stems, all about the same height, lengthening upward together.

Below ground, the energy is wilder and rougher.

Only when I repotted this relative of African violet, short-flowered sinningia, was its free-for-all of sprouts and tuberous roots exposed.