Hesperantha

The garden hardy crimson flag lilies hail from South Africa and provide good late summer, through autumn colour in a sunny border. Red, pink and white, good sized flowers above narrow sword-like foliage. Worth planting further into a bed, where the flowers will appear to hover over other plants. Similar to Ixia in that respect, but a little more robust. Will suit a richer soil, which retains some moisture, especially during their growing period. There are around 90 species, but  many of them are not as hardy as they range from South Africa, up through to Sudan. Schizostylis coccinea and its related forms are now know as Hesperantha.

In their native areas, different species are pollinated by different insects, according to flower morphology. Honeybees, flies, beetles and moths are some of the groups that specialize in certain species, and for the most familiar H. coccinea (the former Schizostylis) it is butterflies. Over here, autumn butterflies do visit the flowers for nectar, and hoverflies will eat the pollen, but it isn't clear which insect group is doing the pollination. Increasingly naturalized outside of gardens, especially in warmer south-western coastal areas, steps should be taken to limit its spread away from cultivation.