'Vallota' (Scarborough Lily) high and dry

There is an interesting (and quite unverifiable) story behind its most common name 'Scarborough Lily'. Tradition has it that a Dutch merchantman homeward bound from the Cape (the date seems to vary from the late 18th to the early 19th Century) ran into a storm in the North Sea and was driven ashore on the Yorkshire coast near Scarborough. The vessel broke up, and in the time honoured manner, the cargo was looted by the locals. It included a quantity of what looked rather like daffodil bulbs, but turned out to be a lot more interesting. They found their way onto local windowsills and into local gardens and the bright scarlet late summer flowers became a feature of the area.