Gladiolus tristis var. concolor - Marsh Afrikaner

The Gladiolus tristis var. concolor is a rare pale yellow flowering botanical gladiolus that comes from the flooded meadows of South Africa. There, it is commonly called "lady of the night" due to its flowering that perfumes the air from dusk onwards. This bulbous plant produces slender flower stems adorned with numerous graceful and delicate flowers, resembling pale yellow to cream-coloured lilies. Their fragrance perfumes the nights of June and the bouquets. Semi-hardy, this bulb can be grown in a pot or, like other gladioli, in most regions. On the Mediterranean coast, it can withstand winter in the ground, flower in spring, and enter dormancy in the dry soil during summer. A beautiful plant for collectors!

The Gladiolus tristis var. concolor belongs to the iris family. In its natural habitat, it grows in open meadows, sometimes marshy but drying out in summer. When conditions are favourable, it naturalises quickly. It is a perennial herbaceous plant with a storage organ called a corm, which is a kind of globular, brown bulb. The plant starts growing in autumn, taking advantage of the rains, flowers in spring, and goes dormant during summer. The foliage consists of long, thin, linear, sheathing, spiralled leaves, upright and then trailing, measuring about fifty centimetres. They are dark green, with parallel veins. Flowering occurs early, in May-June depending on the region. Floral stems, reaching a height of up to 70 cm (28in), emerge from the foliage. Each stem bears several 8 cm (3in) diameter flowers with a long tubular calyx. The flowers are composed of 6 broad tepals that taper at the tip, all of the same size. They are very pale yellow, with a slightly deeper yellow median zone, sometimes tinged with violet. The fragrance of the flowers is sweet and more pronounced at night. This nectar-rich flowering is highly visited by pollinating insects. The corm of the Gladiolus tristis 'Concolor' can withstand brief frosts of around -5°C (23°F) to -6°C (21.2°F), in a well-drained soil during winter. It requires dry soil after flowering, in summer.

The Gladiolus tristis var. concolor is an extremely graceful gladiolus, but its cultivation is somewhat delicate. Growing it in pots allows it to be protected from cold in winter and humidity in summer. Well adapted to moderately harsh Mediterranean climates and appreciating moist soils in winter, it naturalises very easily there. It can form large colonies that blend perfectly with grasses like pennisetum, eragrostis, or stipa in a naturalistic setting. Also consider simple annuals like cornflowers or love-in-a-mist. This plant, with its natural charm that is far removed from the stiff and slightly kitschy appearance of its Dutch cousins, deserves more than a row of stakes at the edge of a vegetable garden: plant it in groups of 20 bulbs next to botanical daylilies and linarias, for example. Elaeagnus ebbingei will provide a dark and neutral background that will enhance them while protecting them from the wind.