When I moved here, my newly-widened lane was flanked with the red-brown clay that passes here for soil. I decided I needed to plant flowering trees along it, to brighten up the woods and hopefully help keep back the blackberries. I started this winter, planting a few lilacs. And then the Elderberries came into bloom. The Elderberries that seem to sprout up wherever there is disturbed soil, and that now line sections of the lane. Their creamy white blossoms cheerily announced spring.
Other native trees are now taking on the brightening duties, with flowers (I think these are Oregon Boxwoods) and colorful seed pods.
Some scrappy-looking plants have been establishing themselves in the clay. I'd been wondering what they were and if it was wise to let something that spread so fast to take hold, but decided anything was better than the Himalayan blackberries that are the bane of the Northwest. They then put on a growth spurt and turned into flows of delightful long-stemmed greenish-white and pink flower stalks. Tellima grandiflora or fringecup, a northwest native described as "somewhat aggressive", seems to be out-competing everything. Pretty pink claytonia sibirica, a purslane called candy flower, adds color interest. 
I can't wait to see what blooms next. One of the lilacs I planted shows up in front of the log as a forked white stem. It isn't doing so well. And I thought I could improve upon nature.
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