I'm not exactly certain why I love gladiolus so much, but I do. In the deep dark winter of early 2006 I found looking forward to summer even easier than normal. We'd already set a date in August to be married, so it was all down to the process of sorting details. Yup, in the midst of winter all I really had to think about were flowers. *sigh Hard life I know!
After only a very short look around at the local florists, I decided that it would cost way too much for them to provide flowers for the wedding. Oh, my infinite wisdom when into high gear here! With Vessey Seed catalogue in hand, I went though all of the possible flowers that would be in bloom in August. Unfortunately lilac, forget-me-nots and tulips were out. But glads, glads should be in.
Only a couple of months later Micah and I sat on his parents back deck cleaning and potting 200 bulbs. Yup, we were going to be masters of the garden... a feet I had never previously managed. I am still thankful to his parents for giving up over half of their veggie patch to glads.
Somehow, against the ardent warnings from one of the local gardening specialists, our glads bloomed on time. And, my goodness, did they ever bloom! I have never seen anything like it in my life. We had over 100 stems perfectly ready for the wedding, all with at least 8 blossoms fully open... some with as many as 17! Several of the stems were as tall as me, a towering 165cm! (Their normal height is around 50-80 cm for those who want to know.)
All said, gladiolus really do now hold a very very special place in my heart.
Taken by Ellis Roddick August 2006 - Reception, All Saints' Cathedral, Halifax, NS
