Purple Gladiolus

Stunning great colour.

Lovely Gladiolus colour! Most Gladiolus flowers do have a white throat & it's not very common to see them without it.

This was supposed to have that white throat, but something went "wrong", and all the bulbs are solid purple.

I've just watched an old episode of Gardeners World on BBC iPlayer. In it they take a trip to South Africa to a remote valley where there are some species of Gladiolus that exist in just ONE valley & there are probably no more than a few100 of them! One especially only grows alongside a waterfall & nowhere else yet it's stunning! The guides who too the BBC crew there had been looking for it for 4 years & this was the first time they had been able to find it flowering!

I find the species to be a lot more attractive than these hybrid types. There are 255 species in the Gladiolus family.

I quite agree with you, Wylie! Many years ago I "discovered" species Crocuses & fell in love with them! Since then I no longer grow the big Dutch hybrids as I much prefer these daintier ones.