INVESTIGATIONS OF GLADIOLI (GLADIOLUS L.) IN THE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF VILNIUS UNIVERSITY

Gladiolus (Gladiolus L.) is a popular garden plant and commercial flower crop, which has been grown in Lithuania for many years.
Local plant breeders have created a great number of Lithuanian gladiolus cultivars.
The researchers of Floriculture Department of the Botanical Garden of Vilnius University have been investigating, accumulating and preserving the cultivars created by Lithuanian plant breeders.
At present in the collection of the Botanical Garden of Vilnius University there are 180 gladioli cultivars of both foreign and Lithuanian origin.
A hundred of them have been researched.
The goal of the study was to investigate and estimate morphological–ornamental properties of the Lithuanian gladiolus cultivars in the Botanical Garden of Vilnius University and to evaluate them.
These cultivars come in a vast range of size, forms, and flower colour.
The following gladioli received the highest evaluation for their decorative properties: ‘Onute-3’ (100 points), ‘Laimute’ (99 points), ‘Solveiga’ (99 points), ‘Merkurijus’ (98 points), ‘Rudens Akvarele’ (97 points), ‘Raudonasis koralas’ (97 points), ‘Paparcio Ziedas’ (97 points), ‘Nu, Gromov, Pogodi!’ (97 points), ‘Norma’ (97 points), ‘Malinovyj Zvon’ (97 points), ‘Kovo 11-oji’ (97 points), ‘Fiji’ (96 points), ‘Pupu Dede’ (96 points), ‘Saules Takas’ (96 points). The intensity of propagation of Lithuanian gladioli cultivars is from 2 to 72 cormels. 44 per cent of all the investigated cultivars grow from 10 to 20 cormels per one vegetation season.
The following gladioli cultivars received the highest evaluation for their propagation properties: ‘Darius ir Girenas’ (72 cormells), ‘Laiko Iliuzija’ (70 cormells), ‘Akademikas’ (42 cormells), ‘Kovo-oji’ (42 cormells).