Also known as the ‘Crimson Flag Lily’, Schizostylis ‘Coccinea’ is sure to capture attention, enlivening your autumn garden with its pillar-box red blooms. Held on upright spires, the scarlet, saucer-shaped flowers open fully in the sunshine and retire in the evening, demurely folding their petals shut at night.

This variety is a large cultivar of the type species, found growing in drifts in South African marshland. Related to the Flag Iris, Schizostylis relishes similarly moist, fertile conditions.

This vigorous, clump-forming, hardy perennial produces an increasingly impressive show year after year, naturalising into splendid swathes of late-season colour.

As the rest of the garden winds down at the end of the season, sprays of starry, rose-pink Schizostylis ‘Rosea’ burst into life. ‘Schizostylis’ means ‘divided styles’, referencing the wispy, tripartite filaments extending from the centre of each bloom. Slender, semi-evergreen foliage offers lush greenery for most of the year, without being overbearing amongst borders.

Despite their delicate appearance, these hardy perennials cope well with the British weather. Being native to South African wetlands, the rhizomes thrive in moist, rich soil and full sun. As a bonus, ‘Rosea’ will provide you with an abundant supply of admirable cut flowers, with spires of Gladioli-like blooms.