PASSING a little garden outside an office block, I was pleased to noticed that a colony of flowering Gladiolus dalenii had quietly taken up residence in this patch of urban soil.
They are among my favourite wild flowers, partly because of their habit of popping up everywhere uninvited then delighting the owner of the property with their extravagant. summer flowering. Take a look around your garden for their speckled orange or yellow blooms. More than likely you will find a few of them.
YOU MIGHT ALSO BE INTERESTED IN : Invasives and natives: Go indigenous when you build a pond
I have found them in all sorts of sunny corners in my garden and even snuggling up the the official residents of plant pots. These flowers look lovely in a mixed flower bed but they are at their best in the wilds when large swathes of them offer a bright, floral spectacle.
Gladiolus dalenii, also called the parrot Gladiolus, is just one of about 120 Gladiolus species that are found in the wilds in South Africa. Gladiolus means small sword, a good description of the their sword-shaped leaves that grow from corms.
They also make good cut flowers, making them popular all over the world. As Charles and Julia Botha point out in their ‘Bring Nature Back to your Garden’, Many hybrids have been developed from South Africa’s Gladiolus species. they have been developed to such an extend that they are unrecognisable when compared to their parent species.
According to Julia and Charles, the Gladiolus dalenii flowers are edible and look good in salads. While they are normally orangy red, they also come in other colour variations ranging from greenish to maroon.
Traditionally, it is believed they ensure a good harvest if planted strategically in the fields. They also bring great beauty as garden subjects although they do get nibbled by molerats.
Unfortunately these charming guests are not the only flowering plants that take up residency in your garden uninvited. While I was photographing and admiring the gladiolus dalenii in the office block garden I couldn’t help but notice that loads of vinca or Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus, previously vinca rosa) had taken up rsidency, too.
Unfortunately the toughness this exotic species and its ability to flourish anywhere has earned it a spot on the emerging weeds list in the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (Wessa) handbook on Invasive Alien Plants in KwaZulu-Natal.
If you have ever tried to rid your garden of this pink and white menace you would probably agree with its listing. The periwinkle is pretty persistent and, like Gladiolus dalenii it pops up everywhere, particularly when you disturb the soil. Welcome the wild Gladiolus into your garden but root our the foreign floral pests like the vinca before they can spread into the wild.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
For news straight to your phone, add us on BBM 58F3D7A7 or WhatsApp 082 421 6033
