Red hot poker

We planted a red hot poker a couple of years ago after a previous plant had turned out to be all yellow. The yellow one is very pretty, but we did want one of the traditional coloured ones. The new plant didn't flower last year, and I had just about given up on it this year too, so was surprised to see this flower today. There is another one coming, too.

The red hot poker flower seemed a good subject for my daily blip, so here it is. I tried a number of angles, but this one, the first shot I took, is the one I prefer.