Glad to see Gladioli

Yesterday, 13 August 2014, I had a volunteer shift and afterwards, as I sometimes do, drove to the Reader Rock Garden. Thought I'd better see what flowers were in bloom, as summer is slipping away so fast and I haven't taken all that many colourful images of flowers, garden or wild. They come in so handy during the seven long months of winter that are not all that far away now, breaking the monotony of "white" photos. Some of the flowers were well past their prime, but still make an interesting shot. Love the colour of these beautiful Gladioli - the three stamens at the centre remind me of those little matchbooks, the ones that have a strip of matches all joined together and you tear one off as you need it.

"The genus Gladiolus contains about 260 species, of which 250 are native to sub-Saharan Africa, mostly South Africa. About 10 species are native to Eurasia. There are 160 species of Gladiolus endemic in southern Africa and 76 in tropical Africa. The flowers of unmodified wild species vary from very small to perhaps 40 mm across, and inflorescences bearing anything from one to several flowers. The spectacular giant flower spikes in commerce are the products of centuries of hybridisation, selection, and perhaps more drastic manipulation." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiolus

Beautiful red Gladioli are seen in the painting, Vase with Red Gladioli (1886), by Vincent van Gogh.