New Gladiolus Hybrids, 2015

People have been raising Gladiolus hybrids for hundreds of years, but they haven't tapped into the full diversity of the genus. Most of the Gladiolus hybrids you see in stores are based on the summer-growing Glads, and have ruffled flowers densely packed into a spike.

The winter-growing Glads I'm playing with are very different. They generally have flaring bell-shaped flowers evenly spaced on a wiry stem. They dance in the breeze. The flowers look delicate but are actually quite tough and easy to grow in a Mediterranean climate. They come in a huge variety of colors, many with spots and streaks on them. Some of them are also sweetly scented.

There are pluses and minuses to raising these hybrids. The minus is that many of the species are self-fertile, and it's too easy to get apparent crosses that are actually just a duplicate of the seed parent. On the plus side, the plants often grow to blooming size in only two years, rather than the 3-4 years needed for Moraea. And when the crosses do work, their colors are hypnotic. The best ones remind me of Alstroemeria, but the plants are better-adapted to my dry-summer climate.

Here are my recent favorites, Click on the links to learn more about them.

MM 11-03b.

MM 11-05c.

MM 11-14b.

MM 11-14d.

MM 11-21f.

MM 11-22c.

Other recent crosses:

MM 11-04. G. carinatus X G. tristis. Looks mostly like G. tristis.

MM 11-97. G. quadrangulus X G. trichomenifolius. A pleasant white flower with a yellow center and dark streaks.

You can read about some of the beautiful Gladiolus hybrids being created by other breeders on the Pacific Bulb Society's Gladiolus hybrids page here.