Glad you came up?

Isn't it nice when 'surprises' pop up in the garden? I'd discarded some 'dead' pots from the alpine house following the killer Winter of two years ago. Clearly not as lethal as I thought.....

This was the sight that caught my attention on the 10th September, gorgeous salmon coloured flowers over a fan of foliage merely 6" tall.....

The flowers lasted nearly a week before shrivelling up - only to be replaced by just as many new ones. The whole plant was less than 12" tall :-)

And pretty stunning they were too! Eat your heart Gladiolus flanaganii - I may have a new favourite?

I had suspected Gladiolus oppositifolius ssp salmoneus would be 'one for the garden' when sowing this amongst a dozen or so other species from Silverhill seeds several years ago. And of course I planted it there with that in mind ......

Now where's all the other surprises waiting to shoot up?