Bells of Ireland

Stiff upright spires lined from top to bottom with flared lime-green bells, each cupping a tiny white flower. The bells are calyxes rather than petals, which is why the colour holds so long and why they dry to straw-gold instead of dropping.

Nothing else gives you pure green on a cuttable stem, which is why florists prize it. There is some trouble attached. Germination is famously erratic. The seed wants cold, light and cool conditions, so it does far better sown outdoors in September, or chilled in the fridge for a fortnight before a late-winter sowing, than started warm on a windowsill. Expect anything from a fortnight to a month, and expect gaps in the row. It makes a long taproot and resents being moved, so sowing where it is to grow beats raising it in modules.

The foliage smells faintly of mint, which it should, being a mint relative. The name is pure Victorian invention; the plant is eastern Mediterranean and has never been near Ireland.

The bells carry small spines that prickle bare hands, so wear gloves when you cut it.