Gladiolus MM 19-102

Seed parent: Gladiolus MM 16-52 (G. watsonius X ((gracilis x priorii) x unknown))

Pollen parent: Gladiolus MM 11-14b ((gracilis x priorii) X carinatus)

I crossed a very nice red flower with a vivid purple one. The result was not nearly as colorful as I had hoped, but the markings are fascinating.

MM 19-102a

MM 19-102b

MM 19-102c

MM 19-102d. The colors are a bit dull, but wow, what patterns! In 2026 I crossed this with G. tristis to see if I could get a bigger flower with these markings.

This sibling is very different

Gladiolus MM 19-01

Seed parent: Gladiolus marlothii

Pollen parent: Gladiolus debilis

This looks a lot like species marlothii. The species seems to self-pollinate readily in my garden, and I suspect that's what happened in this case.

Gladiolus MM 13-83

Seed parent: Gladiolus MM 03-02b (G. tristis X (gracilis x priorii))

Pollen parent: Gladiolus MM 03-02a (G. tristis X (gracilis x priorii))

I was hoping to get tristis vigor with some interesting color patterns. It kinda' worked.

MM 13-83a

MM 13-83b

Gladiolus MM 19-34

Seed parent: Gladiolus bonaspei

Pollen parent: Gladiolus tristis

I love this cross, which marries some of the intense color of G. bonaspei with the size and vigor of G. tristis. See also MM 18-280a.

MM 19-34a

MM 19-34b

Gladiolus MM 17-42

Seed parent: MM 11-22b (G. gracilis x priorii) X violaceo-lineatus

Pollen parent: MM 11-21f (G. gracilis x priorii) X unknown

Crossing a yellow-orange flower with a heavily-striped white one, I was hoping for a stripey orange flower. But instead...

MM 17-42a. A nice pink flower with a lot of speckling on the lower tepals. The flower is quite narrow, unfortunately.

MM 17-42b. I guess this is kinda' like what I wanted.

Gladiolus MM 17-13

Seed parent: MM 11-04a (G. carinatus X tristis)

Pollen parent: MM 11-04c (G. carinatus X tristis)

These flowers seem to have reverted to mostly G. carinatus in appearance, but they are quite vigorous.

Moraea MM 12-79

Seed parent: Moraea tulbaghensis dark orange form with green eye

Pollen parent: Moraea villosa form d

This is a cross from 2012 that failed to survive when I first planted it. I planted more seeds in 2016, and now in 2023 one of them finally bloomed. I have no idea why it took so long.

This is a pleasant orange flower with sea green eyes. It's quite a bit larger than a typical M. tulbaghensis flower, thanks to its villosa parent. The flower is cupped, which often happens with tulbaghensis hybrids. I flipped the tepals down to take the second photo.

The pollen parent is a mauve-colored flower that I hoped would make reddish children. No luck so far, but presumably those mauve genes are lurking somewhere, and I might be able to bring them out with more breeding. We'll see...

MM 12-79a