This is the first year I've tried to grow Gladioli, or as I always heard growing up, Gladiolas. I bought a bag of bulbs earlier this spring, and had almost forgotten about planting them. Their foliage closely resembles the irises and lilies near them, and until this morning, had not seen any indication they would bloom this year. Walking about the gardens a few minutes ago, I found buds on four of my plants. The buds are really interesting to look at. They have an almost perfect herringbone pattern on them; I suppose each flower has its own little "home" in the burgeoning bud. The variety of these glads is called "Green With Envy" and should give me bright, lime-colored flowers!
I clicked onto the adjoining wikipedia link and for the first time realized that there is entire classification system for flowers and plants like there are for species
ReplyDeleteThe latin names can be very intimidating to remember and pronounce. . Perhaps this explains why I'm not a botanist or a biologist, lol.
The Latin names for plants are very confusing and hard to remember! Mary, who has a degree in Horticulture, knows them all, and through listening to her for so many years, I've come to know several, but not many. It's useful because some plants don't look alike, but when you know their classifications, you realize they're closely related and you'll know how to take care of the new plant. There are also certain varieties, known by their last name, such as vulagaris (bright colored flowers) that help you understand what you're planting. I think it's anything with "alba" in it will bear white flowers.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I included the "learn more" links, lol!
I took sports medicine course many years ago which I regret taking. My stomach developed an ulcer because of the stressful demand of the course. Although we didn't memorize all 850 muscles in the body, the 300 that we had to memorize drove me nuts. Along with remembering those names we had to know the measurements, origin and functions of each one(kinesiology). I was up every night with a pad and pencil writing each one over and over again until I committed it to memory. Sometimes I had to write some of the answers on my pencils.
ReplyDeleteI have a problem with Gladioli - having grown up with an undertaker grandfather - I always associated this flower with funerals.
ReplyDeleteI tried to figure out why this is and this is the best I could come up with:
Gladioli
"A spray of gladioli is a traditional funeral arrangement. The flower is also sometimes referred to as the sword lily because of its sword shaped leaves. Gladioli come in a variety of colors. The flower represents strength of character, sincerity and moral integrity."
how apropos for Pink Gardens, lol. Thanks. You always educate me, Annie.
ReplyDeleteI used to work at a florist and have made many, many funeral arrangements with glads, but I still think they're beautiful flowers and I don't just associate them with death. My mom always had a lot of glads in our gardens, so I grew up with them. Good luck with yours Casey and I hope they turn out so beautiful, you want more next year! :)
ReplyDeleteKatie
thanks, Katie. you know I'll take photos of them!
ReplyDeleteTHE GLADS MOM GREW WERE ALWAYS SO BEAUTIFUL. SHE WOULD TAKE FLOWERS OVER TO CHURCH AND PLACE THEM ON THE ALTER SOMETIMES ON SUNDAY MORNINGS. ALSO, SHE WOULD PLACE THEM IN VASES AROUND THE HOUSE. SHE'D WOULD EVEN BUY THEM FROM THE STORE IN PUT IN THE HOUSE.NOTHING PRETTIER THAN GLADS. NEVER THOUGHT OF THEM BEING FUNERAL FLOWERS ALTHOUGH THEY DO PUT THEM IN ARRANGEMENTS ALONG WITH OTHER FLOWERS. SO PRETTY. I LOVE GLADS.
ReplyDeleteCAN'T WAIT UNTIL WE GET TO SEE THE OPENED FLOWER.
GRANNY
CASEY, ARE YOU FEELING OK? DON'T FORGET TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THAT GLAD.I WANT TO SEE THE COLOR.
ReplyDeleteGRANNY
Goof Morning Granny! The Glads won't be out for another couple of weeks, probably. The buds are still as tight as they look in this photo from last Monday. The day lilies are all out, orange everywhere.
ReplyDeleteMY DAUGHT,PLUS HER FAMILY AND HER BEST FRIEND AND FAMILY ARE HER DOING YARD WORK OUT FRONT. ALL KINDS OF FLORIDA HOT WEATHER PLANTS.IT SHOULD LOOK NICE WHEN DONE. THE ONLY THING IS I FEEL BAD BECAUSE IT'S SO HOT AND HUMID TODAY TO BE OUTSIDE WORKING.I CAN'T EVEN STAND TO GO OUT. NICE GIFT TO ME. I WISH I KNEW HOW TO DOWNLOAD PICTURES I'D SEND THEM TO YOU. ENJOY YOUR DAY.
ReplyDeleteGRANNY
I don't associate glads with funerals at all. During my time in the floral industry our top flowers for funerals were Casablanca lillies. And my mother went so far as to request that we not use lillies at her funeral. I'm sure every region in this country has their own customs when it comes to funeral flowers.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure your yard will look great! I've seen photos of gardens specifically for Florida's climate.
ReplyDeleteI've only gone to a few funerals. I know plenty of people that aren't here anymore, but I really don't "do" funerals. I don't remember the flowers at all. Funny, you'd think I would.