Gladiolus liliaceus

A lovely species of Gladiolus! The neat looking flowers are browny-orange to yellow & change to a purple-mauve in the evening. Very unusual! Along with the change in color in the evening, there is also a sweet fragrance which helps moths (and humans) find the flower at night. The flowers are starfish-shaped with twisting petal tips & the foliage is slender & grassy. The plant gets to be about 14-18” tall & about 1’ wide. Blooms in Spring & is native to South Africa. You can grow these easily in a pot which you can then put away while the bulbs are dormant in the Summer. Withhold water during this time. Or you can grow these in the ground as long as they have decent drainage & are not heavily watered in the Summer.

Kelly Kilpatrick
Propagator