Under the current circumstances (see last blog), I thought a purple flower most suitable today. Luckily I have a beauty in my garden – it is comfrey (Symphytum officinale) and as you can see, the unfurling flowers are wonderfully architectural, as well as being a beautiful rich purple in colour.

This plant is known as being an excellent compost accelerator. It is also good for making liquid manure, is most attractive to bees and, somewhat appropriately for me right now, is thought to be useful as a wound healer.

I grew mine from a root taken from my sister’s veg garden in Cornwall last year and it has run amok here already, which is fine with me.