Lying about flowers

It's always interesting to find flowers out of season and when we carry out our St Andrew's Day flower count (across the NTS gardens) we sometimes get surprises.

This is Asteranthera ovata, a slender, scrambling, self-clinging climber in the African violet family, or Gesneriaceae, from the temperate forests of Chile, where it climbs up tree trunks and mossy rocks - very much as it does at Arduaine. The flower. described 'officially' as fuchsine purple, is some 3-4 cms across and usually flowers in May. I had to lie down on the ground to get this close-up! I hope it was worth it!