Gladiolas

Anyone else here grow gladiolas?

I’ve had people tell me they hate glads because they‘re “funeral flowers“.   Not sure how they came up with that idea...

My family has always grown glads and I just love their stately spikes and lush colors.  I have a picture I cherish of my great grandmother.  You can tell the photo was taken during the depression (even if I didn’t know the approximate date).  All around her is bare blown dirt ground, the house in the backround hasn’t a speck of paint on it, but in her arms is a bunch of lush gladiolas from her garden.  I can only imagine the extra time and effort that went into carting the water to grow those besides the vegetables to feed the family.  Another photo taken of her shows a little old shrunken woman in the late 60’s and her in her garden with flowers as tall as her.

When I plant my glads out in the front yard I feel as though I am carrying on an old family tradition that was handed from her to my grandmother to my dad to me.

Gladiola time seems a LONG way away as I shovel another foot of snow off the driveway again this morning.  Usually I plant my glads on April 15.  I started doing that to have something happy and positive to do on tax day, now it’s just a habit.   It’s looking like April 15 we’ll still be seeing snow drifts across the flower beds.

Can’t wait to get these beauties back in the ground.