It’s a red-hot poker- a “Kniphofia” if you’re into Latin. It grows next door but defies the textbooks; they all say kniphofias need better drainage than the low-lying clay of the coastal floodplain. So these flowers are a double bonus- I don’t have to look after them, and they pop up with reliable regularity.
Well named, the red-hot poker matches up to the hype. On a few occasions I have seen rods of iron being worked by the Smith. Fascinating and pretty, glowing red-into yellow and then showering sparks across the forge as the hammer smites the metal.
Did God create these flowers on a whim? I’ll have to ask in due course, although the queue may be rather long!
Here are verses to meditate on taken from Psalm72 v23-26.
I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
The Reflectionary 