Last year we saved several varieties of our own flower seeds – poppies, marigolds and sunflowers – which we planted this year and produced colour and blooms all around the garden.  The last to flower are these beauties.

I showed the picture to granddaughter Sasha this morning when I met her and my son at my mother’s flat.  Grandparent duties are bringing me to the big, noisy, car filled City quite often this week but ( like the flowers) the rewards are worth the wait and the traffic jams.