Bistort

Something I can't resist photographing every year, bistort, a wild flower which glows along many roadside verges. Although it's related to Japanese knotweed and docks, it doesn't grow out of control and I used to have a cultivated variety in the garden. In the 1980s every gardening programme recommended it. I may well try growing it again. The cultivated variety has a bit more colour than the wild one.

This morning our neighbour kindly lent us his trailer to take some large branches from the garden to the local tip. It's nice to be getting the garden looking better.