Gladiolus << `glad` ee OH luhs or gluh DY uh luhs >> is a garden plant with spikes of large silky blossoms that are popular as cut flowers. It is also called sword lily. Many gladioli are grown in the United States and Europe. A common type is the garden gladiolus.
The flowers of gladioli are of many different colors, through all the shades of red and orange to white. There is even a blue gladiolus, which comes mainly from South Africa. The tube-shaped flowers grow above one another in long clusters along one side of the stem. A lower blossom opens first. If the lower flowers are the only ones in bloom when a spike is cut, the buds above them will open one after another.
Gladioli have tall, slender stems like an iris, and long sword-shaped leaves. Their name is the Latin word for little dagger. They grow from bulblike underground stems called corms, and new corms develop above the old ones. Each fall the corms should be dug out of the garden, cleaned, and stored indoors at a temperature of 40 °F. (4 °C). Gladioli grow well when they have a rich, soft soil, sunlight, and plenty of water. The gladiolus thrips, a tiny insect, feeds upon gladioli. The gladiolus has traditionally been considered one of the flowers of the month of August.
