Heirloom Gladiolus Bulbs

All bulbs for spring 2013 are SOLD OUT. Order for NEXT spring starting June 1.

Lucky Star, 1966

WHY GROW GLADS? They make luscious, long-lasting cut-flowers. They add dramatic spikes of color to the garden. And they multiply and store so easily (but only if you feel like it!), you’ll soon have many more.

GLADIOLUS HISTORY – The first hybrid glads appeared in 1837, and Victorian gardeners – including Monet and Gertrude Jekyll – loved them. To learn more, click here.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS – Whether you call them gladiolas, gladioli, or gladiolus, glads are easy to grow, doing best in full sun and well-drained soil. To learn more, click here.

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Even Rarer Gladiolus

Every year we get a handful of spectacular bulbs that are so rare we offer them WEB-ONLY. For an alert the moment they go on sale, subscribe to our free, monthly email newsletter.

PINT-SIZED GLADS Sampler

The garden world is starting to catch on to what we’ve been saying for years now: small-flowered glads have big charms. See for yourself with this diverse sampler of 1 each of 5 bouquet-friendly pixies: ‘Atom’, ‘Bibi’, ‘Elvira’, ‘Green Lace’, and the incomparable ‘Starface’.

For 2, 3, or more of each variety, order additional samplers.

COS32 SOLD OUT 1/$15 2/$29 3/$41 4/$53 5/$64.50

GLORIOUS GLADS Sampler

Glads are easy, fun, and last forever in bouquets. We’ll send you 3 each of 4 glorious classics: pink ‘Friendship’, ‘White Friendship’, purple‘Fidelio’ , and our pint-sized best-seller and 2006 Bulb of the Year, ‘Atom’.

For 6, 9, or more of each, order additional samplers.

COS20 SOLD OUT 1/$12 2/$23 3/$33 4/$42.50 5/$51.50

G. callianthus, ABYSSINIAN GLAD, 1888

A fragrant glad? Yes! And it’s so graceful and different that even glad-haters love it. Its exotic, late-blooming, ivory flowers with purple hearts dip and sway on sturdy, arching stems. Collected from the mountains of Ethiopia in 1844, it reached America by 1888 when it was featured as brand new in Garden and Forest magazine. Formerly Acidanthera, now Gladiolus callianthus ‘Murielae’, 3-4 feet, from Holland. Chart to compare.

SGL29 SOLD OUT 10/$6.50 25/$15 50/$28 100/$52 250/$117

APRICOT LUSTER, 1969 Rarest

Soft and luminous, this enchanting, full-sized glad has won bushels of blue ribbons. It’s a delicious blend of apricot, coral, honey, buff, and gold, delicately ruffled, and we never seem to have enough. 4 feet, from Maine and Michigan. Chart to compare.

SGL16 SOLD OUT 3/$9.50 5/$15 10/$28 25/$64 50/$119

ATOM, 1946

Hummingbirds love it, and petite, jewel-like ‘Atom’ may forever change the way you look at glads! A primulinus glad with flowers half the size of most, it melds easily into perennial borders and bouquets. It won’t get lost, though, because it’s a brilliant red cooled by the finest edging of silver. It’s our best-selling glad, our Spring 2006 Bulb of the Year, and in 2012 Scott planted it on national TV with Martha Stewart. 3 feet, from Michigan. Chart to compare.

SGL01 SOLD OUT 5/$4.50 10/$8.50 25/$19.50 50/$36 100/$67

BIBI, 1954 Rarest

Exotically patterned in a style that dates back to Victorian days, this small-flowered, vibrant pink cutie is randomly flecked with deep rose. Whether it reminds you of a batiked sarong, Jackson Pollock, or the psychedelic 1960s, it’s unique and intriguing. 3-4 feet, from Maine and Michigan. Chart to compare.

SGL17 SOLD OUT 3/$11.50 5/$18.50 10/$34 25/$77.50 50/$144

BLUEBIRD, 1968 Rarest

As small as ‘Atom’ and surprisingly close to blue, this cheery little glad always reminds us of a nest full of hungry baby birds. Winner of the gladiolus world’s highest honor, the All-America award, it blooms with vigor all across the country. Small-flowered, 3 feet, from Maine and our Ann Arbor micro-farms. Chart to compare.

SGL49 SOLD OUT 3/$12.50 5/$20 10/$37 25/$84.50 50/$156

BOONE, 1920s?

Don’t like glads? We dare you to try wee, wildflowery ‘Boone’. Collected at an abandoned homestead in the Appalachians near Boone, NC, it has graceful, pint-sized, primulinus blooms of soft apricot, and it’s remarkably hardy – through zone 6 at least, and many of our zone-5 customers tell us it’s perennial for them, too. Like ‘Carolina Primrose’, it’s an early form of the “Maid of the Mist” glad (G. primulinus, now G. dalenii, from Victoria Falls to the US in 1908), and awesome. (See it on the cover of Fine Gardening!) 3 feet, zones 6(5?)-9bS/11WC, from Michigan. Chart to compare.

SGL30 SOLD OUT 1/$9 3/$24.50 5/$39 10/$72 25/$162

BYZANTINE GLAD

Perennial to zone 6, stunning and FALL-shipped only. See Gladiolus byzantinus.

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