HARDY GLADIOLUS, 



year 1875, he impregnated G. purpureo-auratus with their 

 pollen. Some seeds were saved and sown, and produced, after 

 two years, three flowering plants. One received the name of 

 Gladiolus Lemoinei ; the second was called Marie Lemoine; and 

 the third, which bloomed somewhat later, was discarded as 

 having a dull shade of colour. The two named plants were 

 grown for some years in our trial grounds before they were 

 sent out. It was quite obvious that, like their female parent, 

 G. purpureo-auratus, they were hardy, and could, without any 

 danger, remain in the open ground during the winter. Both having 

 the same habit and hardiness and height of spike, and possessing 

 equally large and well-expanded flowers, with purple blotches 

 and yellow tips on the lower segments, they differ from each 

 other in the fundamental colour of the corolla, which is a pale 

 saimon-pink in Lemoinei and straw-Yvdiite in Marie Lemoine. 

 At the Paris Universal Exhibition in July 1878 the new G. 

 Lemoinei attracted the attention of many amateurs, who foretold 

 for it a great and successful future. It was exhibited a year 

 later at the Royal Horticultural, thanks to the kindness of 

 Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, who gave themselves the trouble to 

 grow it, and it was awarded a first-class certificate. 



The Garden of August 16, 1879, speaks thus in its report : — 



" This fine hybrid Gladiolus, raised by M. Lemoine, of Nancy, is the 

 result of a cross between G. purpureo-auratus, a true species, and a 

 native of Natal, and G. gandavensis, which is itself a hybrid, and one of 

 those from which the many varieties grown in gardens have emanated, 

 having been raised some years ago between G. psittacinus and G. 

 cardinalis. Lemoine's Gladiolus, which grows from 2 feet to 3 feet 

 high, partakes in a striking degree of the characters of both parents, 

 but it is said to have the more perennial character of G. purpureo- 

 auratus. It is of robust growth, with plaited foliage of a rich green 

 colour. Its flowers, which are about the size of ordinary garden 

 Gladioli, are arranged closely on the spike, which is about one foot long. 

 The three upper segments, which are broad, are of a creamy-white 

 colour suffused with pink, and the lowermost one has a thick streak of 

 rich, deep, purplish crimson down the centre ; the other two are wholly 

 that colour except about half an inch at the tip, which is a bright yellow. 

 It is now in flower in the open border at Messrs. Veitch & Sons' nursery, 

 at Chelsea, whence it was exhibited at the Eoyal Horticultural Society 

 on Tuesday last, and was deservedly awarded a first-class certificate." 



The two new Gladioli were sent out in January 1880. Not 

 long afterwards M. Froebel, nurseryman at Zurich, offered under 

 the name of Gladiolus Froebeli a plant which resulted from the 



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