Growing Gladiolus: 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.

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.