Lamprocapnos spectabilis 'Hordival' VALENTINE
17th May 2013
I admire Lamprocapnos spectabilis with the wonder of a small child watching a magic trick.
I have grown up with it revealing its charms every spring, always fresh and always slightly mysterious.
With that same wonder I see every new variation that appears. My grown-up mind could sit down and predict
the possible variations on the theme but when they appear suddenly I am a child again, believing in magic
and open mouthed in wonder.
So, perhaps I could have predicted that the pinkish colour of the species as we know it in cultivation
would not be the last word. Perhaps I could have done, but I didn't. The red form caught me by surprise
and left me giggling, smiling and paying a price beyond understanding to the five-year-old I had temporarily transformed into.
There is a wonder in gardens that doesn't seem to follow expectations and pays no heed to money or love.
I planted this in the garden and sat cross-legged in front of it for the pleasure of looking.
And then I went and got a chair.
I felt like a five-year-old but I'm not.
12th June 2016
11th May 2018
20th May 2020
Lamprocapnos spectabilis 'Hordival' VALENTINE was discovered growing as a seedling in a garden in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
by Lyle and Phyllis Sarrazin in the spring of 2005 (US Plant Patent PP22793).