The other day, I noticed that not only the globe artichoke was in flower but that the day lilies had also added their flowers to the tableau.
I got these plants as seeds – nine altogether, of which three germinated three years ago. The next summer, the three plants went at the back of the garden and survived. What I didn’t realise was that pigeons find them a delicacy. So, last summer, they got eaten to the ground and one of them didn’t survive the onslaught.
Fortunately, my net cloches saved the remaining two. But once again, this year, I nearly lost them, since they started growing and then being eaten before I was aware of their emergence. And this time round, I had only one cloche, so the second plant had to fight its own battle against the beaks.
Interestingly, of the two plants, this unprotected one is not only bigger but has started to flower first. Now, perhaps this is due to a determination to withstand the pigeon interest or maybe it gets a tiny bit more sun. Whatever the cause, I’m really pleased that the perseverance has paid off. I would be nice to see if the plants spread but that will of course be a story for another year.
Growing out of chaos 
Interestingly, our pigeons don’t eat our day lilies
Perhaps the day lilies are better camouflaged or there is more food generally for the pigeons?
Perhaps