On August 15, 2025 I met a new love. I entered the icehouse after running an errand, intent on tackling a couple of “desk-jockey” tasks so that I could join Susan and friends for an afternoon wakesurf. But upon stepping into the vestibule a new arrangement on the coffee bar stopped me in my tracks. A pair of breathtaking blooms! Meet Fragrant Gladiolus.
Remember my recent admission about glads? And my recent eureka moment? Well, little by little, Teddi is evolving my appreciation.
Almost a year and a half ago I admitted that I had never been a fan of gladiolus flowers. Until I was. Just like that, a dramatic change. An aesthetic epiphany. And Teddi has catalyzed my transformation in dramatic fashion which means that she’s recently been busy overwintering gladioli from the icehouse flowerbeds. (Source: Overwintering Gladioli)
Ah, terrific Teddi. Again and again!
Until that moment in the middle of summer I’d never before seen Fragrant Gladiolus. In fact, when I called Teddi to ask what the blooms were, I found it difficult to believe that they were glads at first. But a closer look at the stems revealed similarity.
Each week Teddi replaces flower arrangements in our home and icehouse. Each week we enjoy identifying her creative choices, often becoming familiar for the first time with unfamiliar plants. (See “Petrichor & Eucalyptus”.)
I asked Teddi to research whether or not we could successfully grow Fragrant Gladiolus. So long as we disinter and store the corms during the winter, it seems that we should be able to cultivate our own.
Am I sounding obsessed?
Fragrant Gladiolus
Lest I leave you high and dry without a whiff of useful information about Fragrant Gladiolus, here’s a starting point.
Gladiolus murielae is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae… [that] has been given a number of English names, including Abyssinian gladiolus, fragrant gladiolus, peacock gladiolus, and peacock orchid. It was formerly placed in the genus Acidanthera… [and the species is still sometimes represented (albeit erroneously) as Acidanthera bicolor.] It is a cormous perennial growing to 70–100 cm (28–39 in) tall, with linear leaves and in late summer, numerous fragrant white flowers with a maroon (occasionally orange) blotch in the throat, on slender nodding stems. Widely cultivated, it is a common subject in western and southern European gardens, where the corms are lifted every year and stored in frost-free conditions. (Source: Wikipedia)
Peacock?! The breathtaking but austere grace of the Fragrant Gladiolus blooms we enjoyed (not once but twice) this past summer exhibit a minimalism and a restraint that I do not associate with the proud peacock.
It seems to me probable that spring-planted and autumn-disinterred corms might be worth a trial, no? Stay tuned…
What do you think?