Crocosmia

It's been a lovely day.

I spent quite a while dealing with nettles and bracken on the roadside ditch.  W did some weeding, and some tidying of the veggie beds.  And S, our young helper, continued deturfing the bed that will eventually be our rhododendron* and azalea bed, and piling it neatly in the compost area - in a year or so it will be excellent soil..  

Crocosmia is a somewhat contentious choice of plant. W has memories of it from South Africa, where it was difficult to control. And then there's montbretia, a crocosmia x crocosmiiflora hybrid, which has turned feral in Ireland.

But this yellow variety is said to be easily kept under control. We'll see. At present it makes a lovely contrast with the red hot pokers (they're doing exceptionally well this year) and the purple verbena bonariensis and buddleja.

*  Rhododendron - there's another contentious plant - rhododendron ponticum is another thuggish plant that has gone feral in much of Ireland and the UK.