Crocus speciosus

A dry day for a change, well a partly dry day anyway.   So what is there in the garden worth blipping.  As I wandered round I spotted three little splashes of colour on "the heap".  The heap is an area under the Crab Apple tree, where I suspect the first owners of the house gathered up the stones from the cultivated area and dumped them.  it is now covered in soil and impossible to cultivate.  So basically we leave it for the wildlife.

At some point in the past, we must have planted these Crocus speciosus.  They are a little smaller than the hybrids we see in spring.  Also they are genuine Croci unlike the "Autumn Crocus" (Colchicum autumnale) they are actually members of the crocus group.  The insect appears to be a Marmalade Hoverfly ( Episyrphus balteatus ).