- Winter and summer blooming varieties are available.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
Winter bloomers are native to South Africa, where the winter climate is similar to that of southern California. They are fairly hardy plants that will tolerate light frost. They are generally small in stature, with small flowers borne on slender stalks. Despite their size, the winter bloomers can have a powerful fragrance. Varieties include Gladiolus caeruleus, which has bell-shaped, light blue flowers, and Gladiolus teretifolius, which has bright red flowers. Other winter glads are available in colors from pink to lavender. - Summer hybrids can have up to 40 flower buds and hold 10 or more 5 1/2 inch flowers at once. A wide variety of flowers is available, including novelties such as "Candy Cane" which is red and white striped. There are also many new ruffled varieties. Hybridizers have recently developed upward-facing flowers instead of the usual forward-facing ones. For all their showy beauty, summer hybrids do not have much fragrance.
- Nanus hybrids are the glad usually found in garden centers and catalogs. They can be successfully overwintered in the ground through Zone 4, so they are quite hardy. They are sometimes called "winter-hardy glads," though you can also find them under the name "butterfly glads." The flowers can be white, pink, salmon or almost red. The spikes are slender, usually with no more than 12 flowers on each.
- The best-known summer blooming glad is known as the "Sword Lily," which grows tall and has long, spiky leaves. It's the birth flower for the month of August. Colors range from white to red, with various shades of pinks available as well as several shades of yellow.
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