Iris unguicularis

There will be plenty of colourful fireworks blipped tonight. Here is a colourful flower instead with some of the flaming brilliance of the pyrotechnic displays.

Iris unguicularis (aka Iris stylosa) usually produces its first flower around the end of November here, continuing through the winter until a final flush of flowers in March. This year it has come very early - does it know we have a harsh winter ahead? Pick the pencil-like buds just before they open, the individual flowers can be lost to a frosty night, although the plant survives.

It grows best in a warm, sunny place, here against a south facing wall. The long leaves become untidy after flowering so cut back the old leaves then. It does not like being moved (do it after flowering if you have to) and often sulks for a year before flowering again.

There are several named forms in cultivation with flowers in different shades of purple. In the wild it can be found in Greece, the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa where it inhabits hot, dry places in poor, stony soil.