One of the tubers produced the expected fiery red blooms accented with yellow, exploding in the fantastical upside-down bloom shape so unusual in a flower.
Amazing as these flowers are, we were actually more astonished by the flowers from the other root. While Gloriosa Lily flowers start pale in color and deepen to red as they open, these flowers stayed pale, taking on only a dark pink hue as they aged. This happened with every bloom from that tuber, so it wasn't a one-time thing.
We can't really find any other descriptions of this on the web, so we're not sure if this is a common mutation or not. It's certainly not something we've ever seen before. If you know any more about this unusual Gloriosa Lily bloom, please do drop us a line in the comments.
Great pics of a unique flower! Found this through Florida Friendly Plants on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI've never encountered a solid pink one before, but they will produce seed, so I'm wondering how cross-pollination will work out. A few seedpods appeared this season, and I'm letting nature take its course...
Did any of yours pollinate?
At Nehrling Gardens, we have three patches that each have their own coloration going on:
- one quite similar to the top pictures, though the yellow has streaking instead of the patches
- a dark red and yellow (significantly darker than the other, started blooming April 2011 and still going strong with multiple blooms per stem, not as climby)
- a large established patch of an interesting orangey-peach form, some solid and some with pale yellow; in either case, the petal margins have more waves, much like your pink form versus your red/yellow
Thanks for giving this often overlooked plant some attention. =)
These were already growing at our house when we bought it almost 30 years ago. I've never seen them anywhere else and didn't know the name until I happened to think of searching google. Another person mentioned that they produce seed, but I've not seen any. I will keep an eye out for them. I'm glad to finally know what it is, and now I'm more interested in growing more of them.
ReplyDeleteWE WERE SURPRISED WHEN SEVERAL CAME UP TWO YEARS AGO. WE HAD MOVED INTO THIS HOUSE EVERAL YEARS BEFORE AND HAD KEPT THE AREA NEATLY MOWED. LAST YEAR THEY CAME UP EARLY AND I WANTED TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED IF I LET THAT GROW. I WAS PLEASANTLY SURPRISED AT WHAT WE HAD WHEN THEY BLOOMED. THIS YEAR I LET THEM GO AND TWICE AS MANY CAME UP. THEY MUST MULTPLY UNDER GROUND. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL
ReplyDeleteAND INTERESTING TO WATCH UNFOLD.