My Dear Jane blocks have been languishing, unattended in their little box for weeks. I am far behind the group, & won't even count how many I need to do to catch up. But I will whittle away slowly at them when I can - they are always very calming & enjoyable to return to.
Genius points to my lovely friend Belinda who identified Specimen #1 as Iris Japonica or 'Poor Man's Orchid'. The leaves are so different to any other iris I have seen. I wonder if she will know what this is:
Small tree, lilac pea-like flowers, prolific seed pods dangling from the branches, heart-shaped leaves.
I confess I found one of these in flower in a nursery today, so now know what it is, but I will test to see how clever you all are anyway!