A South African member of the Iris family, Schizostylis (recently reclassified as Hesperantha) 'Major' is a late summer bloomer that can brighten your garden right through autumn and sometimes still be in bloom close to Christmas. The bright crimson scarlet red flowers of this crimson flag lily open wide to the sun, adopting a polite demeanour as they start the day closed and bowed by the dewdrops, stand erect to the sun all day, and again droop their heads as the day closes. Schizostylis can take a few years before it produces a large number of flower spikes!

However, if you're patient, you could end up with as many as 12 spikes from each stem at a time when little else is colourful. Schizostylis coccinea 'Major' syn. Hesperantha coccinea 'Major' do like water, so don’t leave them thirsty.