Beautiful Surprise

After seeing them in another garden, I knew My Florida Backyard needed Gloriosa Lilies (Gloriosa superba), so I ordered some from an end-of-season sale at American Meadows in late spring. Gloriosa Lilies grow from tubers, and we received and planted three. Two of them have grown and done well, though we've had an interesting surprise from the blooms.

One of the tubers produced the expected fiery red blooms accented with yellow, exploding in the fantastical upside-down bloom shape so unusual in a flower.

Amazing as these flowers are, we were actually more astonished by the flowers from the other root. While Gloriosa Lily flowers start pale in color and deepen to red as they open, these flowers stayed pale, taking on only a dark pink hue as they aged. This happened with every bloom from that tuber, so it wasn't a one-time thing.

We can't really find any other descriptions of this on the web, so we're not sure if this is a common mutation or not. It's certainly not something we've ever seen before. If you know any more about this unusual Gloriosa Lily bloom, please do drop us a line in the comments.