Ground hugging clumps of darkly spotted reptilian leaves that produce flaming spires of tubular yellow-orange blooms in late winter. A hardy south African bulb that thrives in poor soils and requires no water during its summer rest.

Brightly coloured and easy to grow, an excellent persistent substitute for annual bedding plants, perpetual potted colour or combine it with other geophytes and or native grasses in radical unirrigated steppe plantings.

A bun forming species from the Iberian peninsula with tightly packed rosettes of small, dark green, spoon shaped leaves and producing a thicket of finely branched flower stems bearing many tiny, pale lavender, starry flowers all summer long.

A quick hair cut in autumn to remove the flowering stems returns the plant to its sculpted form and makes sure new winter growth will receive plenty of sunlight.

Almost indestructible, it is at home in any well drained sunny site and is perfect for planting between loose paving or wall cracks where it will self seed gently for that cottage garden look and be content with the reflected heat.

Unfortunately deeply penetrating roots make it completely useless for pots.