Jaggy beggar

It's been dry all day today, but I haven't been out as it was dull and windy. I've been sorting pictures for next week's 'Members Night' at the Photo Club. Members can bring up to 20 pictures and have a bit of a chat about them if they wish. The following week is the hand-in for our first competition so I'll need to see if I can find anything worth entering!

As the sun popped out briefly I popped out too and the first thing that hit me was this splash of red. I have Blipped this before, or rather one growing in the garden at Arduaine - this one was given to me in a pot quite recently. Fascicularia bicolor subspecies canaliculata, to give it its Sunday name, is a very spiny Chilean bromeliad related to the pineapple. The centre spot turns into a circle of pale blue flowers and the rosettes which are in flower turn red to attract the pollinators, which in the wild are mainly hummingbirds. If you try to emulate the hummingbirds and put your hand into the rosette (not that they have hands, of course) to pull out leaves or other debris you may find it difficult to retrieve it due to the backward facing spines!