Crocosmia

Bursting out of its native African grasslands with a name like some space-age alligator being, it’s our Flower Of The Week: The Crococosmia! Okay so their name actually just means ‘smells a bit like saffron’ in Greek (because their leaves - you guessed it - smell a bit like saffron) but we’re all about indulging the fantasy side of things in FOTW.

What’s beyond dispute is their distinctive flowering: vivid inflorescences standing proud astride branched stems, often in shades of bold red and orange (the red ones are commonly, seductively, sinisterly referred to as Lucifers…). Hummingbirds also love them, and its one of the few flowers that can match the transfixing beauty of its pretty little pollinator.