Heirloom Gladiolus 2021

 by Dana Koogler

Wednesday July 28, 2021

Heirloom Gladiolus Pix Here 

This issue is dedicated to the memory of Rachel & Rodney Saunders whose lives were taken from them far too soon and so unfairly.   May they rest in peace. I pray Heaven for them is full of beautiful flowers to explore and enjoy. 

     I have been writing about and keeping up with the heirloom gladiolus in Cades Cove and other areas for about six years now.   I don't make it out there every year, but I try.  I missed 2020 so I was determined to make it out there to see them in 2021.  I put that on the front burner keeping regular tabs on the status. My friend Betsy Lee rides her bike around the cove just about every Wednesday during the Spring and Summer.   She was an invaluable assistant in getting me out there when they began blooming.  We agreed it was a "weird year for flowers".  Ragged Fringed orchids and other species were not on track as they usually are.  Something has messed with the timing on just about everything that has bloomed this Spring and Summer.  I still managed to make it out there and find a few blooming.   

    Kenny went with me this year thankfully.   We headed out to the cove pretty early on a rainy day.   We encountered light traffic which was a real blessing.

It can take hours to make it into the cove and around it.   The main grouping of them is on the front of the loop road.   Once we started seeing them at the first location on the loop he would pull over and let me out.  He stayed in the jeep and played games while I inspected flowers and took pictures. 

Looking at the first location from the road.  At least seven wands of heirloom gladiolus mingled with black eyed Susans and Queen Anne's Lace.

Taking a look at the gladiolus from behind them facing the mountains.
The misty setting and the overcast today really makes for bold colors and good photos.  If you look closely you can see the raindrops on the flowers.

 

   The first location is always easy to spot.  Tall spires of bold orange gladiolus wave at you from the field.   It is a happy circumstance that there is a good pull-off there near the spot.   I waded out into the mostly open field of tall grasses.  I was watching where I stepped and put my hands.  I was not oblivious to the season ,and that snakes are out.   I had a spooky encounter wading through chest high grass at Alarka Laurel on the upper trail to the falls.  I found myself that day following the thinnest opening in a swath of tall grass and weeds that was four feet high.  It was less a trail and more an animal path where perhaps a deer had made its way through the area. 

I encountered a snake coiled up right where I'd have to step. I screamed and ran the other way like Satan himself was chasing me.  I don't know if it was poisonous or not, but I did not stick around to question it.  After an encounter like that I was watching carefully.

I am thinking this gladiolus is possibly one of the parents of the hybridized "Peter Pears" cultivar.    I believe it is Gladiolus psittacinus now called dalenii

           Below: I may be focused on the more showy, colorful heirloom gladioli in the cove, but I cannot ignore the other more subtle native species. There are other beautiful flowers about me as well. 

       

Queen Anne's lace is common and always pretty.

Wild Basil is a fuzzy little field herb and smells good. It is pretty. I have seen these in the cove and at Purchase Knob.

Wild bergamot with its pale lavender blooms and spicy scent.

Though I often get provoked with the traffic at Cades Cove I cannot dismiss how beautiful a place it is. 

        

   

A final look at the raindrops on this beautiful specimen of heirloom gladiolus and I was ready to move on. 

Below: we got to see a sweet little doe with her rusty red Summer coat on our drive around the loop road. 

   We moved onward gradually toward the next location.  It is the huge Mother Lode of the Heirloom Gladioli in Cades Cove.    I was saddened to see that Betsy had been correct in her assessment.  I only saw a  handful of gladiolus blooms sending up their colorful spikes amidst the sea of weeds and briars.    Right near the road was a cluster of bold pink ones in perfect form.

Once again Kenny pulled over to let me out, but remained in the vehicle. 

It was no longer raining, but the grass was wet. I photographed and checked out the first bright pink gladiolus near the road.   I walked down an old farm lane picking my way carefully among briars and weeds.  It was somewhat tracked down.  I was watching closely for snakes. I stepped on a large fallen log and was mindful to look at the ground before stepping back down. 

   

First look at the nearest gladiolus to the road.

   

 A closer look at this beautiful flower.  

Above and below: the same gladiolus bulb.  Different focus and look at how much change there is in the appearance.   The one above is a too bright manual focus.  The one below is true to life and untampered with in any way. I can feel the touch of the petals and the rain drops just looking at it. 

  I was now making my way along the abandoned, overgrown lane. I was hoping to see and photograph at least a few other heirloom glads.  I was having some success.  I got out to where I could at least see a few more.

I was extremely uneasy about the field and snakes, but I kept close watch on my feet and hands. I would tell myself "You're okay. You can make it close enough to photograph this one."  The I would quickly snap a few photos.

I made it over to one of the Boone cultivars. 

Raindrops on the Boone cultivar heirloom gladiolus.

  I believe it was just after this that I lost myself in my thoughts and landed in the "Curiosity Killed the Cat" zone.   It has been a problem for me all my life.

No kidding.   I found myself very absorbed and interested in a plant that was near me.   It was not a gladiolus, but the colors and textures intrigued me. 

Above:  I am not sure what the plant shown above is, but it is pretty.  It was fuzzy leafy green with a pale purple top.  I'd not seen one like it before.   Just beyond this mess in the field was a huge swath of bright, deep orange butterfly weed.  I could also see in the distance a large swath of deep purple.   I was focused on this. I was getting carried away. My thoughts at this point were of what are those pretty colors? Wonder if I could possibly make it out there to see them?   Wonder if I can make it over to that single white and single yellow gladiolus in the field to my left?  I sure would like to see them.  And then something caught my eye downward and slightly to my left.  Initially it registered as a very dark object low to the ground, and that was all.  A double take revealed it was a large, fat, very pissed off timber rattler who had seen me before I noticed him.  He was about four feet from me.  He was lying down atop the weeds. He was heavy enough he mashed them down.   I was horrified and leaped to attention and action.  I shrieked like a banshee and ran or rather almost levitated back through the field to the old lane. Once there I was in slightly less panic because I could now at least see my feet.  Where I was before I was standing in chest high thick weeds all around me.   Now on the old lane I could at least see most of the ground.  I rapidly and keenly made my way back to the jeep.  

    Below is an image of a rattlesnake that I saw in Slickrock Wilderness. It was nearly the exact size and color of the one I spotted in the field today.  You can tell this isn't the one since it is on a bed of leaves as opposed to grasses, but he had the same body posture.  He had his neck kinked over watching me.  He probably wondered if I was going to keep coming until I stepped on him? 

   Back in the jeep I opened the door, and sat down.  I was shaken to the core.  I kept shuddering. My skin was crawling.   I realized how bad this could have turned out.  I was an idiot to go plowing through that field of briars.   My Guardian Angel certainly had his work cut out for him when he got me as an assignment.  I imagine he must say to himself "Oh no! She's doing it again!" and grabs me by the seat of the pants to jerk my sorry butt up to keep me from harm.    I must do better to use my sense instead of plowing into situations like this.   The law of averages is catching up to me.  I can feel it.

Above:  field at Cades Cove that I plowed through to reach the gladiolus. 

Not a good image and it doesn't illustrate very well how deep the vegetation is, but it is the only one I took of that spot.  

   Below is an image of what it could look like and I hoped it would look like.

Compare the two... it is going to matter in a bit. 

Above is a look at one of the gladiolus blooms photographed by Wayne Morrison.  He wondered if it is an heirloom from the cove. I do not believe it is, but I can certainly see why he'd suspect it.  Check out the photo just above this one. The field of heirloom gladiolus bears all these colors and more!  

It is possible someone crossed them and brought them out of the cove, but

 I don't think so.  Regardless, if he wants to share some bulbs with me I am in favor of that! 

Request of the Park Service for Management of the Heirlooms

  

     

  I got so upset with myself for the foolishness of  wading out into the field of weeds resulting in a rattlesnake encounter.  I was dismayed over the extra dumbness of it for such a small return on the risk and energy to do it.  All in all perhaps half dozen blooms in the field and none of them worth much this year.    I told Kenny right then that if something wasn't done to improve the situation I was done with this.   I am not willing to take this sort of risk for so little return.  I was also very concerned that despite how hardy these heirloom flowers are they appear to be suffering from the conditions.  I believe they are finally getting choked out by the weeds.  Gladiolus must have full sun to bloom.   If enough weeds grow to shade them they may not bloom at all.  It is also possible that during dry times the flowers cannot compete with so many weeds for the available water.   

      I sat down a day or so later and wrote to Dana Soehn of the National Park Service.  She has been wonderful in the past helping to protect these pretty and historic flowers.   It took awhile to get a response as she was working out of the state on a project.   She did get back to me and told me she had forwarded my email to the cultural resources lead and vegetation lead for the park.   She indicated they were the persons to help me with my request.

 What did I request?   I asked for a lot.  I figured if I was going to ask I may as well ask big.    

      My goals for the heirloom gladiolus are this: 

• 
  
•  preserve existing heirloom glads in Cades Cove by way of mowing at appropriate times of year and controlled burns. 

•     Preserve existing heirlooms by way of study and cultivation selectively. 
• 
  
• Involve UT school of horticulture to study and to remove bulbs and seeds and cultivate or hire a licensed taxonomist to do so.  
•       I would love to see the park service raise funds for the park and especially Cades Cove by cultivating the varieties of heirlooms there and making the bulbs available for sale both online and in visitor centers.  Many of these heirloom flower dealers charge as much as $20 per bulb for the old types.    

  I see that as a win/win for the flowers, the gardening world, the park service, the park itself as well as the visitors who like to view the scenery.

 I have yet to hear more back, but I did sit down last night and look up who it is I need to have a conversation with.  The cultural lead appears to be Ranger Kim McGinnis and the vegetation lead may be the park biologist, Glenn Taylor.  I figure I can at least write to them or call to ask.  

    Unless something is done to make it reasonably safe to enter the fields to get closer to photograph the flowers. Unless something is done to prevent them from dying out altogether this may be the last year I write about heirloom gladiolus.   Perhaps there is hope yet and they will recover with  or without help.  Perhaps I will locate a couple other sources to view and photograph heirlooms gladioli.

       

   Continuing the Day's  Drive Around the Loop 

 We continued on around the loop.  I was very nervous after the snake thing.

I did stop to photograph some other heirlooms.  I hit it just right to see the most blackberry lilies blooming ever!  I found two spots where they bloomed thickly. One on either side of the road.  Neither one was real weedy or overgrown to where it was dangerous to get around them. 

     

Largest grouping of Blackberry lilies

I included this photo to show what the foliage of the blackberry lily looks like.  

A view out across Cades Cove and the mist after the rains. 

Mountain mint was near the blackberry lilies.  

Zoomed in closer on the spotted surface of a blackberry lily.
They get their names from the color of the seed pods they put out which resemble a large blackberry.  They also come into bloom just about the time the blackberries ripen. They are Asian introduced species from long ago.

 

   Next I walked on down the road from where we parked.  I photographed location number three for heirloom gladiolus.   They were right by a road and low risk location for snakes.   I caught them looking great!  

Below is a zoomed in view of the same flower. 

Below: this is a separate bloom nearby. It is a little different color. It is paler and more peachy looking. 

Above: a front on shot of a bloom with raindrops.   I am finding out it is important to take photos of them from various angles.  It may help later to determine the cultivar or the potential parent plants!

   

    I did all I could with location #3. It is easy to reach, but the fact it is literally right by the road makes it unwise to tarry too long.  Traffic was increasing.  I put my camera away and walked down the road further to location #4.  These gladiolus were in the fields. It was weedy, but far more open than the earlier field today.  The vegetation was no higher than my ankles.  I carefully picked my way through the grass toward the flowers.    The ones in this location are all either "Bolivian Peach" or hybrids of that.  

    

Location #4 an heirloom glad. The throat is yellow with red stripes. The main color is peach with darker peach/coral tips.  

A profile shot of the flowers in this location.  This gives you a better chance to see the shape of the flower as a whole.  Not just a front view. 

Below is a very good close up of another one at this spot. All of them nearly identical. 

 I enjoyed seeing the Bolivian Peach gladiolus.  I was not going to tempt fate further.  I headed back out to the road and to the vehicle.  We continued around the loop until we got to the far end.  We stopped for a break here.  I got out to photograph the butterfly weed in the field.  It is a good spot where you find red-orange and yellow and every shade of orange in between!

  

Above: traditional orange butterfly weed

Above : yellow cluster of butterfly weed

Below: This cluster of butterfly weed blooms looks to be an intermediate shade of orange.  Like a blend of the deep orange mixed with the bright yellow. 

Above: looking across the field at the misty mountains and butterfly weed

  We moved onward from this spot going around the loop like usual. Our plan was to turn onto Hyatt Road, cut across the cove, repeat a small section of the loop, and exit on Rich Mountain Road.    I had been down Hyatt Lane many times, but today it was especially pretty.   Summer wildflowers are really coming on strong. 

Above: a colorful patch of wildflowers. It is a visual delight thanks to all the color and texture.  

Above: it is a turkey we spotted at the back of the loop road.  It is impossible to tell from the photo, but it is a young jake. You just cannot see his beard for the grass. 

We saw few wildflowers or blooms along Rich Mountain Road.  Rosebay Rhododendron was the most prominent one.  It is a delicate bundle of pink and white and little green dots. 

Scenic cascade to the road side

Above: looking back down the shimmering creek as it crosses Rich Mountain Road.  

Below:  The low water ford across the road. 

  We made it around the loop in record time and got back home.   I was feeling a little better, but still jittery over meeting Mr. Rattlesnake.  I was a bit discouraged at the poor display of flowers.  I was not able to walk down Forge Creek Road to even photograph the ones down there this year.   They have the road closed to all vehicle and pedestrian traffic thanks to maintenance projects. 

        Gathering Inspiration & Improvising 

   I didn't  feel I had much to work with to write about heirloom gladiolus. 

I even considered just forgetting about it altogether.  Not to be so easily outdone... I put it on the back burner to let things simmer.  Maybe I could come up with  some ideas?   One unexpected result of having limited material to work with was that I put my energy into serious searching for information on heirloom glads.  I found two great scholarly papers on the subject.  They were so good I had to wonder why it took me this long to find them?  I enjoyed reading about the old heirloom cultivars, their hybridizers, and the parent plants.   

     I hadn't realized there were so many and varied species of gladiolus. 

I had the great fortune to find names for several of them.   I was really happy about that.   I also had a better idea what the parent plants of these might be. 

  While we were at Myrtle Beach on vacation this year we visited Brookgreen Gardens a couple times.  I saw old timey heirloom parrot gladiolas for the first time in real life!  

Above: Close up of a parrot gladiola individual bloom.  

Below is a view of an entire plant. They are very striking. These are native to South Africa. The African Parrot gladiolus has been in the United States since the mid 1800s.   No doubt these have been used to hybridize other cultivars. 

Above:  A very droopy specimen of an heirloom cultivar I just learned this week it is called Lilac and Chartreuse.  You won't believe where this heirloom came from.  

This one is planted at The Lily Barn in Townsend, but the heirloom was preserved and possibly originated at The Gardens of Alcatraz!  Below is a photo of it face up that I swiped from their site just to illustrate how it looks standing up. The image is not mine.  I hope to catch it in bloom at The Lily Barn again sometime and get my own image of it.  Alcatraz is a historic maximum security prison and is open for tours these days.  I never wanted to tour it, but I did not know about the gardens!

One of the past wardens had a green thumb and a passion for horticulture and involved the inmates in a rehabilitation program of sorts.  It ended up being a treasure trove of heirlooms!  

Above:  One year the Oconaluftee Pioneer Farm had a beautiful vegetable and heirloom garden.  I went by this year and there was NOTHING.  No garden. No flowers.  A real shame.  The photo above is one I took of the heirloom gladiolus and heirloom hollyhocks.  Zebrina Malva was a popular thing back in the 1800s onward.   

Above:  A close up of this heirloom at the pioneer farm.  I did some serious digging and found this is a different one! Gladiolus ochroleucus. I have not narrowed it down further.   There is a similar one of these at Cades Cove that bloomed this year, but I failed to photograph. Though it looks similar I do not think it is ochroleucus.  I think it is some other hybrid.   I am including here a link to the photo album these two images came from. I used to have a bloom report called Botanical Bliss. I may one day begin doing that again, but thus far I haven't felt that the interest is sufficient from either myself or the readers. 

Below is an image of that one for comparison

Above: heirloom gladiolus at the back of the loop road in Cades Cove from a previous year.   It has an almost identical pink color to the one in Oconaluftee. It has the same streak pattern on the lower petals though these are white and red instead of just red.  The bloom shape is different enough to make me think these are something separate. 

Below are two images of the heirloom Malva "Zebrina" Hollyhocks mingled with those beautiful heirloom pink glads. 

Close up of heirloom hollyhock Zebrina.  

   Below is an image of a single specimen heirloom gladiolus I found in Cades Cove. I just identified both the species and cultivar!  It is Gladiolus papilio 

and the cultivar name is David Hills.  I just read a scholarly article on hardy glads that the fellow agreed with my opinion. Though this is is said to be G. papilio it has characteristics of G. dalenii also.  Whatever it is.. it is lovely!  I am real pleased I've had some experts tell me recently that cultivars even when registered can have some variability in the shades and color intensity.  Part of that has to do with the location these are planted in. Full sun produces bolder colors.  This one is planted in part shade! Therefore it is a slightly paler tone.

Above is an heirloom glad I spotted at Bullington Gardens.  I do not know anything about it beyond the fact it is pretty and old.  It has the streak pattern though not very visible as the Gladiolus ochroleucus species.  

Below is a photo of the white form of gladiolus from the back end of Cades Cove taken in about 2019. It is some sort of  hybrid between possibly G. papilio and the old time Abyssinian glads to give the red streaking effect. 

        Preservation Efforts for Gladiolus Species & the Associated Dangers

  I have been fortunate to communicate with one of my blog readers.  Her  interest is in horticulture, horticulture as therapy, floral arranging in the form of Ikebana -and heirloom/rare gladiolus and other flowering plants.  Her name is Makiko.    A very smart and talented lady who is as much or more a plant geek as me.   I learned from her of a horrible incident that happened to two friends of hers.  Rachel and Rodney Saunders are conservationists, nursery owners of Silverhill Seeds & Books . They lived in the Cape Town area of South Africa.    They were both horticulturists.  Rodney at one point in his life left his horticulture and landscaping job after applying for the position of nursery manager at Kirstenbosch... a premiere Botanical Garden in South Africa.   

   They were keen to preserve rare seeds especially of South African gladiolus species.   There are so many and such variety that honestly I had no idea there were as many. In a situation like that it would be possible for a species to die out before it was ever discovered and documented or could be preserved. 

They worked diligently on this. It lead to their deaths. While on a field trip to OnGoye National Forest in Kwazulu-Natal Province to hunt for and preserve seeds from rare gladioli they were abducted and killed.  

Here is a link to an article that outlines what took place. 

  Suspects were arrested and  it has been determined they were Islamic extremists.  The Saunders were British nationals living in South Africa so the British Foreign Office issued a terrorist warning after their abduction and deaths. 

   Here is a link to the Saunders Field Guide to South African Gladioli.

Rest in peace Rachel and Rodney. They went above and beyond for what they believed in. 

Rest in Peace Rachel and Rodney Saunders. Thank you for your hard work. 

Makiko tells me a book is planned to commemorate their work.  I have been unable to find out the name of it. I will ask her again.  It is able to be preordered right now.  

     One of the things reading and researching has taught me this season is the scarcity of bulbs/corms and the great potential for loss of species and cultivars.  

I am glad I have at least recognized this. I pray the park service will take my request for preservation and management of the heirlooms in Cades Cove seriously.   What a spectrum of extremes. The Saunders gave their lives to preserve species.  Then there are places and organizations who fail to see the point at all. 

  I have found an outfit in West Virginia that preserves plant species. 

They have Boone cultivar heirloom glad bulbs for sale. I hope I can purchase some. It is time to put my money where my mouth is.   It is Sunshine Farm owned and operated by Barry Glick.   If you are interested in ordering heirloom bulbs or plants here is a link to their site. Sunshine Farm Boone Cultivar order info.

  I will conclude this edition saying I have hope for the future of heirlooms.  Reading about the Saunders helps me remember there are dedicated people out there who are more than doing their part.   The Lord surely created an unfathomable variety of beautiful life forms on our planet.   I am grateful to get to enjoy some of them.  It makes me feel ashamed of the fact I got upset by a mere rattlesnake when you consider the lengths they were willing to go to for their work.

Below is a video ... Where Have All the Flowers Gone sung by Peter, Paul & Mary

in memory of the Saunders.