Back Story

Could it be a bank holiday weekend by any chance? I'm not complaining, after all that the north and Scotland have endured, but it was quite funny to see Saturday dawn with grey skies and running water on the drive

This is called African Lily or South African Lily. It is a native of South Africa but it is not a lily. It has been in England for a long time - since the 17th century - brought here by colonial ships that stopped during their journey around Cape Horn. Oddly, this probably means it was East India Company ships that brought it, as they were the ones that rounded the Cape, rather than the Royal African Company, that mainly centred on West Africe

The RAC was founded by the Stuart kings after the Restoration, in the belief that there was abundant gold in West Africa (the 'Gold Coast'). Initially there was indeed gold, brought from Guinea and used to mint the coin of that name (then worth 20 shillings, not 21). But the gold mines were not as productive as was hoped, dealing slaves became more profitable, and the company was eventually responsible for the transportation of more plantation slaves than any other single entity. The finances of the English crown were replenished

The East India Company, of course, has a much better known story of oppression and the extraction of wealth, so the migration of the plant is hardly any more dignified by that association. But it's not reasonable to load all this on to a humble border perennial; we have enjoyed its late summer colour and spectacularly long stems. Although it is from the South African highlands, it is sensitive to cold wet winters, and several others that were passed on as gifts at the same time MrsM received this one have not survived until summer so, for her, there is an accompanying sense of achievement 

We spent the wet day putting blue paint on a blue wall, but if there is anything worse than watching paint dry, it's talking about it