From the slopes of Japan's Mount Lilac, the towering flowering trees of Blue Grape Hyacinth valley stretch out as far as the eye can see.

This view is replicated at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden where the lilacs are surrounded with beds of hyacinths for a wonderfully fragrant viewing experience.

The Rube realized that what he had called blue grape hyacinths (4/20 entry, Fig. 3) must be something different.

From the New York Botanical Garden, two weeks ago: Fig. 3 is a paler blue variety in the rock garden, Fig. 4 is wood hyacinths (flowers on the right) from the Conservatory, and Fig. 5 is the big fat kind that the Rube used to like, until he discovered the tendency of the bloated flower heads to fall over flat on their sides at the least excuse.