And another flower!

I have an excuse for Blipping yet another flower. It's been wet and windy today and though I walked down town for a paper and one or two other things I didn't see anything exciting enough to photograph.

On coming home I had a check of the plants in the greenhouse and noticed that one of my rooted cuttings of Fieldia australis had a flower! This is a very rare plant in cultivation and I was given cuttings last year from Edinburgh Botanic Gardens. I have quite a lot of small plants now and will begin to try one or two of them outside.

The species is member of the Gesneriaceae, a relative of the African Violet, and a native of cool, moist, high altitude rainforests in south-east Australia where it grows on moss-covered rocks and tree trunks. I know it used to grow outside at Brodick on the Isle of Arran as I was given cuttings to try at Arduaine, but it didn't survive - it will need a very sheltered warm, moist spot.

Not something you'll see in the garden centre anytime soon!