What flower is this, please? - Clarkia

I must have done - but thought I'd only scattered veg seeds there. Don't really know why I'm surprised!

Fortunately, its not Himalayan Balsam, Jay. that's awful stuff.

As a child I thought it was great. I liked the way the seedpods pinged when you touched them and the stems made excellent pea-shooters.

As a child, I used to bring bunches of it home from the riverbank for my Mum. I thought they were so pretty - not sure she agreed. We'd put them in a vase and the thing I really remember is that the water would turn black. Not sure whether that always happens with HB or whether it was the coal dust from the banks of the River Taff. the river's clean now but the HB is still there!