Biltmore Gladiolus: Mon Amour

Growing Gladiolus (See Combination Photo Below): Everyone knows gladiolus, but not every gardener knows how easy they are to grow. The original "glad" was a wildflower from South Africa called "sword lily", which was imported into Europe in the 1840's. As with almost every other bulb, the Dutch went to work and created a grand rainbow from a quite lowly flower.

Photo A shows many of the beautiful bi-colors we have today thanks to Holland's wildly successful hybridizers.

Photo B not only shows an example of the glowing colors now available, but also the beautiful form of the individual florets, often compared to an iris or orchid.

Photo C shows stately white "glads" in the garden. This picture is a great illustration of how to plant the bulbs. Put them close together so you'll end up with a mass of color, not just a stick here and there. One of the things that makes growing gladiolus so easy is that the plants take almost no space. You can easily pop in the bulbs between other more permanent plants. Just find the spaces in your garden, put in the bulbs in tight groups wherever you can, and you'll know that in a few weeks, those spots will be glowing towers of color.

And of course, everyone knows gladiolus are great in a vase. So be sure to plant plenty where you can cut them. They're inexpensive, and few other flowers give you so much color for the cost. When frost threatens, you can just forget them, and buy new ones in spring, or dig up the bulbs and store them until the following spring. Don't hesitate. Enjoy gladiolus this summer. You can't have too many.