Virginia rockbreaker and bumblebee
I have had my eye on this plant for months, and over the past couple of weeks, I've watched the Virginia Rockbreaker—my favorite common name for a plant perhaps best known as Early Saxifrage—develop flower buds that quickly lengthened then burst into glorious bloom. The species used to be called Saxifraga virginiensis, in honor for its propensity to grow on rocks and, fancifully, break them; that's the literal translation of "Saxifraga." But in recent years, botanical taxonomists decided that the genus name was only appropriate for Old World species and that our rockbreakers belonged in their own genus, Micranthes. I hate it when that happens. It took me long enough to learn one scientific name; I don't know if I have the requisite number of functional brain cells to unlearn a name then replace it with a new one. Still, I'll make the effort, since it's the right thing to do. The bumblebees, of course, are under no such mandate. The rockbreakers, by whatever name, are just perfect food for queen bees.