Gladiolus watsonius
We rarely get to see wild Gladiolus here in North America, but the species forms from South Africa which must be grown in a cold greenhouse here in New England, are beginning to bloom ( after all, it is nearly autumn in South Africa). So I share Gladiolus watsonius, a new plant for me, which is blooming this week in March, lovely in the late, winter sunshine. Spring is shifting in quickly here, with snow melting and crocus blooming, suddenly, it’s time to rake, plant seeds and sweep the walks which we have not seen since December. We are all anticipating spring, and all I can say is that I wish we had spring peepers here in Worcester, for I would love to hear them while laying in bed with the windows open in the spring, but at least, we can open the windows for the first time this year, if only to air the house out!
I live in London and took about 30 SA bulbs including gladioli and moraea seedlings through last winter, germinating them in 18-21C and as each germinated moving them to a cold greenhouse. Managed to get some corms too (almost impossible and at huge expense!) and pix of Gladiolus breviflorus will be going up on my blog, theplantboy.blogspot.com, tomorrow. So many are really easy from seed, although they are a bit fragile, but I love 'em. Good luck with them, I'll follow with interest!
The Plantboy