South African bulbose plants 2007

[fermi de Sousa]

Along the roadside in Central Victoria you can often find "garden escapees" like this "sad glad", Gladiolus tristis.



from memory, it's beautifully fragrant but only in the evening, presumeably to attract night flying pollinators.
cheers
fermi

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Sad thing I haven't growing in my garden...   beautiful Glad.

[Paul T]

Glad tristis is really beautiful.  Formerly 3 subspecies they are now all just tristis apparently.  I keep them separate as they are quite distinct....... Fermi's looks ssp tristis (cream with darker veining on the outside), then there is ssp concolour (pure cream with no markings) and the ssp aestivalis which is the same as tristis but has dark splashes on the inside of the upper 3 petals.  I have the aestivalis flowering at the moment if anyone wants me to post a pic.  Does change the appearance of the flower a bit, but whichever of the three they're all beautiful.  The perfume in teh evening is very strong, but virtually undetectable during the day.  There are also a couple of other closely related Gladiolus species that are similar in appearance (i.e size, shape, height etc) but with different colouration to them.  These can interbreed and I imagine would make some interestingly marked hybrids.

Probably more information than anyone wanted to know, but hopefully someone might find it useful.

[Maggi Young]

Scented glads? I feel a Dame Edna moment coming on. Yes, please, possum Paul, pics!

[Cris]

Hi,

Gladiolus Tristis is a beatiful plant. I've 3 bulbs planted now. I hope they give me flowers, i've never scented their perfum.

I'm about to receive some seeds from S.Africa, they have great plants. My fear is if the grow well here, but i'll try.

Cris

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Thanks for the useful info Paul ! Totally unknown plant to me - I definitely have to take a closer look at the Glad family one of these days 

[SueG]

A wonderful plant and Maggie, the scent is stunning.
Gladiolus tristus was the first bulb I grew and flowered from seed a couple of years ago - it is quick and easy with the first flower two years after sowing (must be if I can do it) .
The perfune in the evening is beautiful and I deliberately bring the pot into the house so that I can enjoy it when I get home from work in the late winter/early spring. The seed I got from the Hardy Plant Society exchange contained all three of the different colour forms and I have now got a nice big potful with the shoots already showing. It lives in my cold greenhouse and gets no special treatment - I've not split out the colour forms - too lazy I suppose. I have found that if I want seed I have to hand pollinate in the cold north.
I think in most of Britain, in a sheltered spot on sandy/free draining soil it will grow outside, but as I don't have a)shelter or b)free draining soil, it's a pot plant for me
Sue
Oh and I'm now growing all sorts of other small species glads just because of this one, still waiting for their flowering though.

[fermi de Sousa]

Another South African grown from seed form Silverhills, in the neglected old sandbed (now a favourite with the cat and the echidna, but thankfully not at the same time!).
Not a spectacular plant or flower but nice to have and a late bloomer compared to most of the babianas I already grow: Babiana spathacea.




cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

Could we have some pics of the echidna please some time Fermi. Not something most of will see around  the sand beds.

[mark smyth]

I would like to see some parrot, parakeet (not budgies) and finch photos. How often do these visit gardens?

[fermi de Sousa]

Lesley,
I did post a pic of "Errol" last year, but haven't photographed him lately.
Mark,
I'll do my best to get some pics, but I have enough trouble getting the flowers to stay still long enough to get a shot!
Back on topic: here's the bright little Tritonia crocata just starting into bloom, sometimes called the "Flame Freesia" it's a lot later than most freesias and crosses within its genus to produce some nicely coloured cultivars, less garish than the type.


cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

Fermi,

I photographed exactly the same thing this morning with the intent of posting a pic.     You beat me to it again!!   

Might be garish, but a clump in flower is such a blaze of colour that it is well worth it.  I've had Ixia curta flowering here for the last few weeks as well, strong yellow-orange colour with black centre and stands out like anything.  So bright and cheery.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Paul,
please post yours as well! And the Ixia curta, too! I'd like to compare ixias as I have a couple labelled such but I won't see them at midday to take a pic when they are fully open so you'll beat me to it with one of yours.
cheers
fermi

[mark smyth]

This is my Tritonia crocata. I has a cultivar name but the label is long gone. I have them in troughs and the garden

[Maggi Young]

here's the bright little Tritonia crocata just starting into bloom, sometimes called the "Flame Freesia" it's a lot later than most freesias and crosses within its genus to produce some nicely coloured cultivars, less garish than the type.

Given that most hybrids are "accused" of being too garish and so much brighter than their parents, it is refreshing to hear ofthese hybrids which are more restrained in their colouring!
That said, while Mark's form is lovely, there is a lot to be said for the sock-it-to'em colour of the parent... VERY cheering!