Orange Hawkweed

As I spent most of the afternoon working in the garden, cutting back laurels and ivy, I thought a blip from the garden would be appropriate (although I tend to use the garden even when it is not appropriate!)

There are lots of these flowers growing around the pond - they have spread in recent years from one or two plants to the dozen or so we have brightening up the area around the edge of the pond. As far as I can tell, they seem to be an american plant - the only websites I found with information were from the USA, with one from Australia.

Wherever they are from they are a beautiful colour. They close up completely at night and open to take advantate of the sun. The sun has been shining warmly between the cloudy bits today. I'm hoping it will stay nice tomorrow, as it is my old primary school's sports day and they have invited me back. Unfortunately, according to the weather, it will be raining by about lunchtime, and as the sports day is in the afternoon, it could be just a social visit. Time will tell.