I have always likes glads. When I was a teen (55 years ago) taking back roads to the Jersey shore, we happened upon a huge field of them in full bloom. Magnificent.

The only thing missng is scent! :)

I am not fond of the popular hybrids. They are a bit too gaudy for me and too much in your face. But I quite like the less flamboyant species. I grew G. papilio in a previous garden. I picked it for its weird smoky lavender coloring. The bed I had it planted in was also governed by an orange and purple color scheme but somewhat more muted into an apricot-lavender/mauve combo. The color of the glad almost duplicated the color of Patty's Plum oriental poppy, coming into bloom as the poppy bowed out. And the fact that it was a hardy perennial that didn't needed to be dug and stored each winter was a bonus.

But boy, did that thing spread like greased lightning!! It would have consumed the entire planting bed had I left it to its own devices. I removed 95% of it and was diligent in rogueing out any offspring.

Yes, GG, they are enthusiastic. As well as the Ruby papillio, I also have a red/orange papillio - 'David Hills'. They make a nice change from dahlias.

I have ordered some g.flanaganii seeds after my surprising success with the papillios.

I was (perhaps still am??) not a huge fan of glads. Honestly it was a flower I never really thought about, and if mentioned in conversation, visions of funeral homes and wakes would pop in my mind.

Then when I was selling bouquets at the farmers market, I tried planting a few bulbs one year, mixed colors. I have to say people really liked them in bouquets, and I thought they looked pretty good too - different, I would say. Probably because they do get a bad rap now and aren't used much, so when they ARE used, they get attention.

Surprisingly, the next season I had some return. They are not supposed to be cold hardy here, and I didn't bother digging, but about ten plants came back. That was almost fifteen years ago and I still have some returning. They are spreading as well, but verrry slowly.

They are in a rather inconvenient spot and I keep thinking about moving them but I don't want to lose them. Which now that I type that, sounds silly. It's nothing to buy a few more bulbs, plant them in a more convenient spot, and hope they like that spot as well!

cyn427, that must have been a beautiful sight!

:)

Dee