Those pastel-pink columbines that look so pretty in front ... The plant was — drum roll, please — yellow corydalis (Corydalis lutea), and it kept on blooming and looking fresh into autumn.

The ferny leaved Corydalis solida subsp. solida 'Beth Evans' produces delicate, pink-spurred flowers at roughly the same time as larger-flowered Dutch crocuses. But 'Beth Evans' is one of those ...