Gladiolus
Mary Sue Ittner (Thu, 24 Jun 2004 20:25:36 PDT)

Dear all,

I attempted to write something on the Gladiolus wiki page about how to tell
some of those European species apart condensed from the key John Grimshaw
provided and some of my other reference books. Please speak up if it needs
correcting.

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

I also added pictures of some seed grown plants I hope are correctly
identified. Speak up if you disagree on them as well. I have decided the
Gladiolus we saw at Kew must have been G. imbricatus as they certainly
seemed dense compared to lax in some of the other pictures on that wiki page.

I'm happy to make changes and make it all vague if need be.

I feel a bit more sure of some pictures I have also added to the Southern
African Gladiolus page
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

Right before we left in May Gladiolus grandiflorus was blooming for the
first time from seed. I found it really delightful, but it only had a few
flowers so wasn't in bloom a long time. When I returned in June I had new
Gladiolus blooming: Gladiolus carneus, Gladiolus angustus, and Gladiolus
undulatus. The Gladiolus carneus was grown from IBSA seed started fall 2000
and blooming for the first time last spring. My pictures on the wiki show
those first flowers last year. They were pink and very pretty. This year
however there were lots more flowers and it bloomed a very long time. My
friend Jana Ulmer (we split the seed and both started it) just sent me her
picture and it was the same for her. I've added her picture to the wiki for
comparison. Mine now has fat seed pods, but I can't guarantee that it
didn't hybridize with some of the others in bloom at the same time so I'm
not sure I should send it to the BX. The seed was wild collected from Du
Toits Kloof, which is a mountain pass in the western Cape so I'd think the
plants might be somewhat hardy. I added a picture of Gladiolus undulatus
which also has been in bloom a very long time. It looks a lot like G.
carneus if you give it a quick look, but has undulating tepals and a much
longer tube. Do I remember correctly that this species may have escaped in
Australia? I also added a new picture of Gladiolus angustus.

Finally Jana shared with me a Gladiolus I admired in her garden. I'm
assuming it is a hybrid of some sort although it behaves like a winter
grower in my garden where it rains in winter and is dry in summer when it
goes dormant. It is not tall and does not fall over like a lot of hybrids,
but I think is a really stately plant. If anyone knows anything about it,
please let me know. I've entered it as the last picture on the:
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
page.

Mary Sue
Mary Sue Ittner
California's North Coast
Wet mild winters with occasional frost
Dry mild summers