Where can I buy tiger flowers?
QI wrote to you some weeks back and you very kindly told me this plant is called Tigridia pavona, or peacock or tiger flower. I would love to get some more, but where would you suggest I buy them? Cristine Mepham, via email
AThere’s no doubt about it, Tigridias are wonderfully exotic. I applaud the idea of your growing more of this lovely plant and suggest that you contact the following company that sells it: P. de Jager, Church Farm, Ulcombe, Maidstone, Kent, ME17 1DN. 8 dejager.co.uk, & 01622 840 229.
The company stocks not only a wellbalanced mix of T. pavonia, but also other kinds, such as white and redspotted ‘Alba Grandiflora’, lemon and reddish-blotched ‘Canariensis’, shocking pink ‘Lilacea’ and scarlet ‘Speciosa’.
They are best started in spring and planted out once the frosts have finished, in containers or borders where they get full sun. They are barely hardy, so they need lifting and storing somewhere frost-free in winter.