much better

I love theses flowers. Crocosmia. They grow like nobodies business round here, big persistent bushes that almost double every year. They remind me of my mum, when I was little she used to pick big bunches and fill vases round the house. She used to mix them together with the pink roses that grew up the side of the house.


Last year when I was clearing a bed of flowers to plant vegetables at my parent's house I very carefully dug up all the crocosmia corms (like little fat caterpillars) and put them round the back where the chickens like to dig up worms. Now this year the bed has garlic and leeks and onions... and more bright orange flowers than ever! Why can't everything I grow be this successful...


And here in Leeds the green leaves and orange flowers line the drive. They make me feel at home.


The last few days have been so lovely and sunny, the tomatoes are ripening and the orange flowers seem to have absorbed the warmth and light, they're so orange they're almost purple. I brought some inside to draw but my lines don't quite capture the orangeness...


So I took these photos instead!