Iris pumilia

Last year 3 flowers, and none very satisfactory.  This year a nice little crop.  Unlike some of our plants, this is quite well situated at the front of a flower bed, and seems to be enjoying it - though it would show off even better in a gravel trough or bed, I suspect.

It's a bit cooler today, but still very pleasant in the garden.  

I've included an extra, not because of the quality of the photo, but because I've not seen one in our pond before - a large water beetle, almost certainly a great diving beetle, Dytiscus marginalis.  It was having a face off with a newt.

We've made a trip to the tip with a load of garden rubbish, and also an assortment of other bits and pieces, including some stuff for the re-use shop there.  We may be going there again tomorrow or Thursday with the cut up wardrobes, when we will have to convince them that, though very large, they were in fact free standing, and hence can be dumped for free, whereas fitted cupboards are classified as DIY waste, and there's a charge for dumping - tell me why?  Is it any wonder that so much stuff gets fly tipped?