Gladiolus: Flower of August Saved by Jackie Kennedy

By Jill Brooke

Guess what is the one flower Jackie O disliked and didn’t want in any floral arrangements?

It’s the flower of August – the gladiolus.

However, since the legendary Jackie O was a woman whose taste and style was so universally admired, experts understand what her complaint was and actually spent years trying to fix it.

“During the time of Jackie O. and the Kennedys, the only gladiolus that were available were glads with florets larger than 3 ½ inches across, mostly larger than 4 ½ inches that stood 5 to 6 feet tall in the garden,” explains David Kollasch, the President of the National Association of Gladiolus Society. 

“Many of these were impressive looking, but needed to be staked in the garden and if brought into the house would be put in a corner of a room for support. This explains the reputation they had acquired of being the funeral flower.”

It’s not that Jackie didn’t love flowers. Au contraire.

She adored them along with art and culture. Jackie was instrumental in restoring the White House Rose Garden as well as the decor within the historic residence. She actually instructed White House staff to never have gladiolus and instead favored white peonies and blue cornflowers. In fact, when John Jr. married Carolyn Bessette in 1996, he wore a cornflower boutonniere to his wedding.

But if she would have lived longer, oh would she be delighted to see how far gladiolus has come!

“In the 1960s and 1970s, growers began discussing what they called miniature glads, glads with florets under 3 ½ inches across,” says Selinger. “A few of these were developed, but they were not popular with the growers, especially not at the shows.”

Thus the consumer didn’t see these delightful spears of love – as they are also known – until much later.

In 2003, Dave Kollasch – who is respected as one of the great innovators of this glorious flower – attended a show in Wisconsin armed with armfuls of glads with smaller florets. 

Soon others realized the practicality of these innovations.

Today, gladiolus with florets as small as ¾ inch are available. Some of these with flowerheads of 18 inches or less can be arranged in a bud vase, a far different way to enjoy the wide variety of shapes and colors that are available in gladiolus today. 

And the variety of colors is astounding. Apricot Dream, Fringed Coral Lace. Northern Lights. Orange Joy. Merlot Wine. Summer Rose.

In the language of flowers, glads mean represent strength and heroism. Not surprising really since the name comes from the Latin word “gladius” which means sword. This dates back to Roman times when gladiators fought to their deaths in the Colosseum and of course glads were often used to applaud victors. Some say that the gladiators wore necklaces of these flowers for good luck around their neck to help them win battles for protect them from harm.

The gladiolus is classified as part of the lily family. There are over 255 varieties. Native plants are found in South Africa, tropical Africa, Asia and Mediterranean Europe. Some of those native plants, like the Abyssinian, are sold today. Others were interbred by botanists all over the globe. (Gladiolus is also named for the sword or “Gladioli” of the Romans, a name that represents the flat blade of the glad leaf, something children use in glad-leaf battles.)

It is lovely that the outer coat of a glad corm is called a “tunic,” because the mother of almost all hybridized glads planted is a species called Gladiolus dalenii, which grows wild from South Africa to western Arabia.

This species became a source for the modern glad because, and here we have to get scientific, it belongs to a genus that has diploid, tetraploid and hexaploidy races. Hybrids grown from Gladiolus dalenii often throw tetraploid offspring. In breeding circles, tetraploid is pure gold, because it allows for the most variations in offspring. Thus, all the frilly, speckled, bicolor, deep-colored, glads, and glads with throats of a different color, rouged cheeks, and embroidered edges.

They are great flowers to get to know and enjoy. Best to plant them in spring. And now they come in many sizes. In fact, in Pennsylvania, they are perennial. They are the flower of August because they bloom often now and one can see these “swords” shoot up and bring joy to the garden.

Furthermore, we can thank Jackie O as well as Dave Selinger for all the gladiolus available and for that we should be “glad.”

 

Photo Credit: Wikipedia, Pixabay and The Wild Folk Florist