Its that time of the season, again

I planted this bulb rather late last year and far too late  for it to flower at Christmas. But last week its growth accelerated and two days ago its four flowers suddenly broke through their 'enclosures' and splayed out. One flower is yet to unfurl properly so I took this chance to catch at least one of the flowers in detail.

I'm glad I chose this shade of red. Last year I bought one which had variegated but mostly white flowers. I think it will flower again but I'm not very good at getting them to repeat. I like to let them grow as and when they want to rather than forcing them to bloom in mid-winter.

The plants in the background are my calathea zebrina, which has these purplish undersides on their long leaves. I repotted it last year and it has grown a profusion of new shoots and its leaves have grown much longer. Behind the calathea is a classic variegated dracaena which I kept in the cabin all last summer rather than in the rather dark front room. It too has nearly doubled in size. I think I'll have to do a bit of strategic pruning, but not too much. Maybe we need a bigger house for these friends.