Need ID on two, please :)

The first is a bulb of some sort. It has shown it's leaf for the past two years (it was here before me) but only flowered this year Little blurry, but I think clear enough for an ID.




This 2nd one is the same story, but, I have yet to see it flower and I think it may even be a weed?
This is how it has appeared between other plants ...



And this is a closer view of the centre showing how it grows up from the middle





Thank you

 

Hi 'M' ... I would guess at Gladiolus and Strawberry.

 

Do you know, Victoria, I never gave Gladiolus a thought! It's not a variety I'm familiar with (just the typical cottage garden variety really). Thank you

Don't think the 2nd one is a strawberry though. If you look at the first picture of it, it is sitting between a periwinkle on the right and a young skimmia on the left, so I'm thinking the leaf is way to large?

 

Hi again 'M', the reason I said Gladiolus is because yours looks like the wild ones here rather than the grand cultivated English ones.

My strawberry leaves are huge ...

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t55/Victoria1st/Strawberry1.jpg

... there is another plant that has leaves like Strawberries but for the life of me I can't think what it is ... a Geum ... ?

 

Looks like a strawberry to me to.

 

M - that first one is lovely. It looks like Gladiolus byzantinus, which is essentially a wild flower from the Mediterranean area. They seem to be perfectly hardy, and look much more natural in a border than the blousy hybrids that you normally see.

 

Yes, Peter, I agree with you on the Gladiolus byzantinus and it is quite prolific here in the Spring ...

http://sfagardens.sfasu.edu/UserFiles/File/PLANTS/Gladiolus_byzantinus[1].pdf

 

Here are some at my river garden ... Gladiolus illyricus (Wild Gladiolus) ...



... and some I saw along the roadside (there were hundreds of them), which I believe are Gladiolus italicus (Field Gladiolus) .. these were taller than me and I am 5'3" ...



I have seen the Gladiolus byzantinus up in the mountains.

 

Victoria - what a wonderful roadside wild flower. We just have to be grateful for dandelions here. I hadn't realised it originated in Spain - so close to you.

I always remember it as a favorite of Christopher Lloyd (Great Dixter). I failed to grow it from seed, and it took me a long time to find a source of the bulbs, which reminds me that I have more in a paper bag that need planting yesterday.

I am not sure of the difference between G. byzantinus and G. italicum - the pictures seem to look very similar.

 

I can see the difference Peter ... the G byzantinus are fuller in the bloom ...

http://search.mywebsearch.com/myweb...-BE89-ED638EBE2295&tpr=sbt&si=EL_INB_FIG_1278

http://search.mywebsearch.com/myweb...-BE89-ED638EBE2295&tpr=sbt&si=EL_INB_FIG_1278

The ones on the roadside were more orange in colour.

That is something strange here Peter ... I can't even remember when I have seen a Dandelion ... but I have seen packets of seeds of them for sale ...