please empty your brain below
Looks more like a gladiolus but very pretty.

Do you ever get kittens in your window box?

Debster | Homepage | 03.07.09 - 8:56 a.m. | #

Hmmmm - this post sounds like it could be about more than just the plant. An analogy to life, perhaps?

All ok your end DG?

Marc | 03.07.09 - 9:03 a.m. | #

D e e p!

But does it need repotting?

Richard | Homepage | 03.07.09 - 9:27 a.m. | #

Debster is correct. Kittens would be too dangerous on that balcony though.

Are the red geraniums still alive?

Blue Witch | Homepage | 03.07.09 - 9:38 a.m. | #

"Iris thing" *Sheesh* - thats Gladiolus byzantium.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear | Homepage | 03.07.09 - 12:19 p.m. | #

**puts on professional horticulturalist hat**

Actually, that isn't "Gladiolus byzantium", as your resident pedant incorrectly refers to Gladiolus communis ssp. byzantinus. Any schoolboy should know that the gender of the Latinized words used in "botanical Latin" must all agree, so "byzantium" is both incorrectly spelled and of the wrong gender. Byzantium is the name of the place - Byzantine refers to something or someone that comes from Byzantium, such as the plant so-named.

In any case, Gladiolus communis ssp. byzantinus has magenta-purple flowers and looks quite different to this plant.

Actually, to refer to it as an Iris thing is not a bad description. Gladiolus is, of course, a member of the family Iridaceae, of which the type genus is Iris. In any case, such a term neatly gets across to the layman the long slender leaves which are typical of the monocots.

I could not, in all honesty, tell you the name of the cultivar that you have in your photo (other than to say that it is not the plant that Exit refers to), but it is undoubtedly the result of a complex hybrid involving several species.

As for cultivation, I suggest that it has been drawn up a little due to lack of bright light - try moving it to a sunnier spot, if you can. The damage to the stem might have been exacerbated by slug or snail attack. If the plant is in a pot, I suggest that you periodically smear Vaseline around the rim of the pot - it makes an effective barrier to the pesky molluscs.

If you want to learn more about this genus, then I recommend the monographs by Peter Goldblatt. He has written (or co-written) at least two on this genus as well as other works on other South African Iridaceous plants. My favourites would be Watsonia - I used to have a collection of half a dozen species, but don't have the facility to overwinter them successfully here. In any case, there is much more to the genus Gladiolus that the rather brash cut flowers so beloved of Dame Edna.

**takes off professional horticulturalist hat and returns to beer-drinking slob headgear**

graybo | Homepage | 03.07.09 - 12:47 p.m. | #

nice red flowery plant thingy
Monday I shall be casting my expert eye over other plant thingys at Hampton Court.

Mr BW | 03.07.09 - 2:32 p.m. | #

Actually, sorry to have to correct you, graybo, but I think you'll find that the resident pedant here is "Pedantic of Purley"

RogerW | 03.07.09 - 3:53 p.m. | #

Todays post made me terribly sad,

and graybo, Rrrreeeespeck

Gladys | 03.07.09 - 4:23 p.m. | #

Gladiolus, right, OK.

This evening: one bud, one opening, two blooming, one closed, two wilted.

And the red geraniums continue to thrive, thanks (apart from the dead one).

diamond geezer | Homepage | 03.07.09 - 8:16 p.m. | #

Yes but what about kittens?

Debster | Homepage | 03.07.09 - 9:09 p.m. | #

Insult deleted by siteowner.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear | Homepage | 03.07.09 - 11:25 p.m. | #

I've got an orchid that does something like that. It does friggin' gangbusters once a year. This year I think it even managed to produce, not just blossoms, but an actual reproduction of itself which I will need to carefully detach and nurture to health in order to have 2 gangbusting orchids. This flower stuff is fun!

ellie | Homepage | 03.07.09 - 11:40 p.m. | #

I like the way something so natural and simple brings you so much pleasure.

Great photo, by the way.

Andrewh | 04.07.09 - 2:08 a.m. | #

Saturday morning: one opening, two blooming, one closing, three wilted.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 04.07.09 - 8:05 a.m. | #

Maybe add a little sugar to the water?

Debster | Homepage | 04.07.09 - 9:33 a.m. | #

Sunday morning: Two blooming, one closing, four wilted.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 05.07.09 - 10:43 a.m. | #

Monday morning: One blooming, one closing, five wilted.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 06.07.09 - 7:36 a.m. | #

next year, try staking the flower spike to avoid it collapsing under its own weight.

Deborah | Homepage | 06.07.09 - 5:32 p.m. | #

Tuesday morning: one closing, six wilted.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 07.07.09 - 8:43 a.m. | #

There is a pink one of these in one of my window boxes. I loathe pink but it is so enthusiastic when it appears each year I haven't the heart to turf it out. This year there are two more of them, it must be Up To Something down there in the soil...

Suse | 07.07.09 - 4:45 p.m. | #

Wednesday morning: in the bin.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 08.07.09 - 8:21 a.m. | #

"In the bin" doesn't sound too good. You should leave it 'til the foliage dies off so the goodness can travel down into the bulb, then recycle the above-earth bit in a compost heap

Great Aunt Annie | 09.07.09 - 1:47 a.m. | #











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