Asian collection miscellany: The view along the axis of the Central Valley, Viburnum sympodiale, Petasites japonica variegata

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The garden is a wonderful place to be this week.

Viburnum sympodiale is a little used species, with flowers similar to V. plicatum. Clearly different in that they open before the leaves appear, and there's a bit of pink in the buds that lingers suffused lightly in the petals. It's not a new or unknown plant; I just think it's a victim of flowering at the same time as the Cherries and Magnolias. Tough competition. This one is in the upper middle of bec C-03 which is the large bed in China Valley that basically fills the area enclosed by the first big curve of the trail as it descends from the road.