Tiger beauty

Yesterday I tried to write a blog. Every time I did I had a problem. First I tried to put in a hyperlink & then couldn't get out to write normally. I had to scrap the sentence I'd written & start again. This time I'd barely got started when the phone rang. By the time I'd got back I'd recovered from the urge to throw something at the computer for its earlier lack of cooperation, but I'd also lost the thread of what I was going to write about - something to do with a comparison of the literary styles of PG Wodehouse & Raymond Chandler. The thought had been inspired by listening to "A Point of View" on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday. Still that is now lost.

Instead I'm going to write about the garden once more. At one point yesterday I was out in the garden when my eye wandered in the direction of the flattened yellow loosestrife. It was a bit of red-orange that caught my eye. Upon investigation I discovered it was a couple of lilies in flower. They too had been flattened.

Most of the lilies that grow in the garden are day lilies. As these flowers rarely last more than 24 hours it isn't worth cutting them. However, the flowers that had flattened in the recent strong winds were tiger lilies, a welcome self-seeded arrival. So I duly cut them & put then in a vase. Since then I've spent much time just looking at, & admiring, them.

I'd always assumed lilies, like most flowers, emerged from a sepal bud. But no. On these the bud itself is slowly turning more orange. Through the green of the buds I can just manage to distinguish the characteristic spots which make these tiger lilies so special. I'm looking forward to watching them opening out over the course of the next few days.

Meanwhile the Fox was surprised when he moved the vase. His hand accidentally brushed against the flowers. Suddenly his hand was covered with a deep orange powder. He must have brushed against the stamens & was now covered with pollen. The sheer quantity amazed him.