The SE corner of Third and Dayton has become very familiar since I first discovered these beautiful little parks when we moved to Edmonds about a year ago. We are fortunate to have it just a few steps from our front door.
Looking closely at the bed in the picture above, I see a white snapdragon just to the left of the golden-topped yarrow. Both that name--snapdragon--and its genus--Antirrhinum--refer to the appearance of the flower: like a dragon (whose mouth you can snap open), or a nose (‘anti’ is Greek for ‘like’, and ‘rhin’ or ‘rhis’ means ‘nose’.
Its inheritance characteristics, and ease of cultivation have made snapdragons a popular plant for genetic studies. The best literary reference I found is from a poem, "Snap Dragon", by that sensualist D.H. Lawrence: "'I like to see,' said she, 'The snap dragon put out his tongue at me.'"
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The other white flower, at the far left, is an English daisy I believe. There are a number of purple-blue petunias around the border.
There are actually 8 flower beds at most of the intersections on Main and Dayton between 2nd and 6th--two at each of the ordinal points.
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A yarrow bookends each of the other teardrop-shaped beds at our intersection. The other prominent plant--the "Mystery Plant"--is oddly shaped; it has 4-5 feet long, nearly leafless stalks, each supporting a small cluster of tiny lavender flowers. It spreads across the center of the picture above.
Perhaps a penstemon? What do you think? I'll appreciate any information you can pass along, including the names of other plants you recognize.