Snake's Head Fritillary

After heavy April showers late yesterday afternoon, the soft morning sunshine lit up the damp garden, making all the colours more intense than usual. One of the highlights of the garden at the moment are the Snake's Head Fritillaries, which have already been featured by a number of other blippers.

These rare native members of the lily family grow wild in riverside hay meadows, particularly in Oxfordshire, but there is also a single outlying population in Cambridgeshre at Portholme Meadow, the largest hay-meadow in England. They have a whole range of alternative names including Checkered Daffodil, Chess Flower, Frog-cup, Guinea-hen Flower and Leper Lily

The flowers have a subtle, almost sinister, beauty and I've tried growing them in the garden on several occasions. Unfortunately they don't usually persist in our clay soil, which tends to bake hard in the summer. However, this year they've come back for the second time - a real cause for celebration!

And, I now have new glasses, so I can actually see whether my photographs are in focus!! It's pretty much been guesswork the last few months :))

PS The chicken is continuing to improve - she's learning to spit out her medicine!!