The Blooming Fantastic Tigridia

I sometimes wonder why I bother growing this bulb/corm – its foliage is rather unremarkable and made less so by the slugs and snails munching on it – and then one morning I go outside and find one of its extraordinary flowers and decide its worth the effort. Each flower lasts just one day and it’s not the most free-flowering of plants for me, but I glory in it while it’s there.