Gladiolus

Gladiolus or glads as many gardeners refer to them are absolutely beautiful in the flower garden and are available in an almost limitless assortment of colors.

Another common name for the glad is sword lily which is a description of the plants foliage.

In reality glads are members of the iris family and almost as fool proof.

So many cultivars and colors are available that should we attempt to list all of them we would fill up numerous pages of what would probably turn out to be extremely boring.

That having been said I will mention that many colors are being offered including several almost black forms.

Selections can be made from dwarf, standard, medium and tall forms.

When growing the medium to tall growing glads you will find it necessary to stake or support the plants as they have a tendency to fall over in windy conditions or even when subjected to hard rain.

A few members of the family are hardy to fifteen degrees below zero but most of the varieties should be lifted or dug up in the fall and protected from freezing temperatures during winter.

In eastern Oklahoma which is zone 6B where we live I choose to mulch them well and allow them to remain in the ground as most winters find our soils well above freezing.

I do lose some now and then but I believe this is due to too much moisture in the ground during wet winters which we sometimes have.

I prefer to replace what glads fail over winter as to do twice the work by storing and then replanting them.

Also I like replacing a few corms each spring with fresh stock.

Plant sword lilys this spring and look forward to enjoying them in the garden and don’t forget to harvest some as cuts.