Incipient Flame Creeper

A year ago, give or take a few days, on my 40th birthday, my mum gave me this plant. She'd searched for it for years (didn't know its proper name) and found it by chance in a garden centre in the back of beyond. It's a Flame Creeper (Tropaeolum speciosum) and has shamrock -like leaves and the most amazing red flowers that appear in a profusion July onwards.

It's special because it reminds me a lot of my granny - she had a mass of it covering the wall at the back door of her house - and the flowers are the colour of primary school summer holidays spent with her and my granda (I'd be with them for weeks on end).

So, it was amazing to be given the plant for my 40th and my mum said that she felt it was like granny was giving me a special present. I'm so glad that it's thriving. Will post another photo when the flowers open. (At the moment they bear more than a passing resemblance to Ridley Scott's Alien...)