DON'T FORGET THE LITTLE GUYS

If it were not for the fact that the top of the dry-stone retaining wall is almost at eye level I might have missed these tiny star-shaped flowers, with their speckled pink petals and stamens with cerise anthers.

This is the flower of the Graptopetalum, more commonly known as ghost plant, for its pale ghost-like leaves. A native to Mexico and a lover of limey soils it seems to have found a perfect home where very little else will grow.

Not quite as showy but equally small and easy to miss the flowers of the leopard lily, Ledebouria socialis. This one is planted in a pot so when I moved it today I noticed the string of tiny flowers. Both these plants are known more for their striking foliage than their flowers: the ghost plant with its fat grey leaves and the leopard lily with its silver and green mottled leaves. But their flowers deserve the spotlight too, especially as they bloom early in the season.

And once again another plant known more for its chartreuse bracts than its flowers,  gopher plant, Euphorbia rigida. Stop and take a look at the center of those yellow bracts to see the beautiful little flower. Let's hear it for the March little guys.