Perennials: Gladiolus communis ssp. byzantinus shooting., 0 by wallaby1

wallaby1 wrote:
It has been milder than usual, but we have also had some normal winter weather. Today I noticed these Gladiolus a few inches tall, I can hardly believe it! They weren't there when I last looked!

I have a pic from last year on the 17th April at a similar stage, but that was a long and cold winter, up to mid April we had winter temperatures.

I also have fuchsias still with leaves there, they have never kept their leaves before, and we have had around 3 frosts to -4C. I think the hot summer helped to ripen the wood, but I have flower buds too!

Last year the fuchsias were just a few dead sticks in April, they didn't leaf out properly until the Glads had flowered late May to June. These Glads were self set from some I had removed to put in the fuchsias, but I never found a place for the original corms. They are beautiful, so I'm pleased they set seed.