Gladiolus Zizanie - Sword Lily

Gladiolus 'Zizanie' is a variety of gladiolus with large flowers and a bold, eye-catching, anything but boring, red and white bicolour. Its eye-catching flowers are all different, randomly streaked with red and majestic in a vase. It pairs well with green, grey or purple foliage plants.

Originating from Africa, Europe, and the Middle East and belonging to the Iridaceae family, the most colourful gladiolus species come from South Africa. Cultivated gladioli are hybrids with large flowers, divided into three main groups: Grandiflorus (large flowers), Primulinus, and Nanus (butterflies). 'Zizanie' belongs to the Grandiflorus group. It is a perennial herbaceous plant with corms (globose bulbs) producing broad, sword-shaped leaves arranged in a fan-shaped clump that can reach approximately 90 cm (35in) high, depending on the growing conditions. The leaves are topped by a spike-like inflorescence, with funnel-shaped flowers that exceed 8 cm (3in) in diameter, arranged unilaterally, almost on the same side of the sturdy floral stem. The petal edges of this variety are slightly fringed.

Gladioli and their long colourful stems, often a bit ostentatious, are symbols of the 70s somewhat formal floral arrangements. While they are irreplaceable in bouquets, in gardens their silhouette needs the company of lush or light foliage plants, which will enhance their dense flowering. Plant them in groups in beds with salvias, small grasses, linear plants, monardas, wallflowers and forget-me-nots to create large colourful compositions. They are regulars in cottage gardens, where they accompany vegetables. For bouquets, cut the flower stems when the first floret starts to open. Plant them at intervals of two weeks from early spring until the end of June to have flowers in the house and garden throughout the summer.

 
The gladiolus gets its name from the shape of its sword-like leaves, derived from the Latin word "gladius". Its wild forms were often represented in jewellery or on carpets and fabrics made by the Semites before the Christian era.

About botanical gladioli:

Far from the cultivated blooms, but offering the advantage of living like wild plants, botanical gladioli offer an interesting alternative for gardeners. You can grow them in the garden, as many of them originate from our temperate climates and are still very elegant:

The most common ones are the Gladiolus byzantinus, with its spring flowering in pink-purple, which naturalises. Gladiolus x colvillei has flowers with various colours, usually marked with pink or red in the throat. Among the very hardy species that naturalise, is Gladiolus communis, from southern Europe, with pink flowers streaked or spotted with white or red. Gladiolus illyricus, widespread from southern England to the Caucasus, forms superb spikes of magenta-violet flowers streaked with white. Gladiolus imbricatus has crimson-violet flowers with a very bright white spot highlighted with purple carmine.