Description
This is a small species and correspondingly the corms are small compared to many botanical and garden Gladiolus. Its overall height is just about 15cm. (making it well suited to pots, under alpine glass) but in spite of the size of the plant, the flowers are comparatively large and it is one of those species with the spike folding at 90º parallel to the ground. The flowers are made in spring and while the sensationalist headlines of garden journalists may bill this as “orange” in fact the flowers vary across the species in shades of cream, peach and salmon all with a red line along the centre of each petal. The flowers do become a little darker with age. The stock shown is the stock offered.
Cultivation is not difficult. Like so many bulbous plants, this does need good drainage. It appreciate feeding whilst in growth and a dryish rest when dormant but nothing too severe as the small corms do not have the resources to survive bad treatment, neglect or poor cultivation. We find it does well when given pot cultivation but it will do well planted out in suitable conditions (perhaps not in the UK) just let it have the right conditions of fertility, drainage and a mild, dry dormant rest that it likes.
In the wild this is native to a small area of the Western Cape province where it grows only on coastal limestone outcrops and within this limitation it is found only on limestone fynbos and sand fynbos. Its area of distribution runs from Hawston to Agulhas. Recent studies have suggested that this is probably extinct at 3 of 13 historically recorded locations due to urban development. It is thought to survive at 10 locations. 6 sites are threatened by alien plant invasion, 3 are threatened by urban development. Ours are raised from Silverhill seeds material.
Gladiolus miniatus