Gladioli for garden borders

Gladioli hybrids are familiar in summer borders, cutting flower beds and on flower show benches. They range from the blowsy large-flowered hybrids to the more slender spikes of the earlier flowering Nanus Group. Others suited for garden cultivation include summer-flowering species like G. murielae (acidanthera) and the hardy, spring-flowering G. communis subsp. byzantinus.