Silver Squill

It's been a rather bitty day, when I've struggled to settle at anything. Despite this, I managed to tick a few tasks off my endless to-do list...

I missed the glorious morning sunshine, sidetracked by other duties, and this afternoon we had high winds and some hefty showers. While I was looking out of the window I realised that the Silver Squill was flowering - and that I'd never really noticed how attractive the tiny flowers actually are. 

It's a South African geophytic perennial with dramatic spotted leaves and a tough drought-tolerating disposition. The tiny flowers are insignificant in size but utterly fascinating on closer inspection. On pale pink stems, the petals have a green midstripe with greenish-white on either side and the stamens have purple filaments with yellow anthers. A study in understated charm.

Silver Squill is a plant that will put up with an extraordinary amount of neglect - going for months or even years without water - but when looked after and cultivated well, it will reward with a magnificent display of exotic foliage. Ours was a cast-off from the Nature Conservancy Council office I worked in over thirty years ago. It's certainly had very little attention and quite a lot of neglect and is thriving!