New South African Gladiolus on the wiki
Mary Sue Ittner (Sat, 25 Sep 2004 21:40:15 PDT)

Dear All,

I have added some pictures to the wiki of some new Southern African
Gladiolus that have bloomed for me this month.

I've been growing Gladiolus ecklonii for a couple of years, but never got a
photograph I liked. The seed came from Rhoda and Cameron McMaster. I
started it spring 2002 and it bloomed for the first time summer-fall 2003.
It's a summer rainfall Gladiolus that is dormant in winter. I'd call it
striking instead of beautiful although I kind of like the leaves that have
nice margins so I included a picture that isn't entirely in focus so you
could see the leaves. The flower is described as white, but it has so many
dots (described in Gladiolus in Southern Africa as pink, red or purple)
that you'd never guess. I think it looks brown from a distance, but perhaps
the dots really are dark red. After our recent discussion I'm reluctant to
hang a name on the color.

When Jim Robinett gave me part of his collection when he could not longer
care for it, there were one Gladiolus oppositiflorus corm. This species too
is a summer rainfall species and I planted it in the ground in a bed that
gets watered weekly in summer, but has redwoods so the soil is always dry.
I didn't expect it to survive so I didn't mark it and had forgotten about
it. A few weeks ago I looked out my window wondering what the salmon flower
was in bloom and after I keyed it out I looked on my data base and figured
it out. I had noted I didn't know if it was still alive. It's very pretty
so I hope it returns.

Finally in my raised bed octagon blooming for the first time also from Jim
Robinett is Gladiolus brevifolius. I've tried it three times from seed
(three different sources) and never had any luck. He sowed these the tag
said in January 1997 so it was a long time before it bloomed. This is
another one of those winter rainfall species that blooms in the fall first
before the leaves appear. The flowers are very small but nicely marked. I
found it impossible to get a picture of it in focus until I put something
behind it. One of those pictures I took upside down and then turned it
around as that was the only way I could hold something behind it and the
camera at the same time. Today I held a piece of plastic behind it and Bob
took the picture.

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

Mary Sue