Fritillaria meleagris

I was taken by surprise as I wandered around the garden and discovered that the snake's head fritillaries were already in flower - it had slipped my mind that their arrival was imminent.

It was a relief to see their pretty faces once more - I had been under the impression that our visiting female deer was feasting on them. Having now looked closely at the area where they grow and where she feeds, I see that the naughty furry lady has been dinning out on our dormant cyclamen plants, but hopefully they have enough time to recover before their autumn flowering.

There are many clumps yet to open, but here you can clearly see where their common name 'snakes head' is derived from. I shall have to watch out for the Red Lily Beetle - she is rather partial to them too

You were designed to tease -
art deco inspiration

with uncanny stylised
chequer boards
magenta pixel dashes

 
a playful coyness
toying with our notions
of botanical convention
 Stephanie Goodacre