'Extinct' flower found in garden

Gladioli are brightly coloured flowers with tall, upright stems

A type of flower, believed to have been extinct, has been found growing in a garden on the Isle of Man.

Keen gardener Edward Huyton has been nurturing the plant, a rare type of the gladiolus family, for many years.

Botanist Professor Michael Tooley had been giving a lecture when he listed some varieties of plants believed to have disappeared forever.

Mr Huyton, who was in the audience, recognised one of them and said it was in his garden in Andreas.

He has now given many of them to the National Trust and the Gladiolus Society in a bid to propagate them across the country.

He said: "I was fortunate to still have it and we are looking to plant them in National Trust gardens so we can see more of them."

There is a varied range of gladioli that produce tall, upright stems, often in pinks, reds, oranges and other bright colours.