multigenerational giving

It’s gladiola season. Glads are one of those out-of-fashion flowers that is having a comeback. For the past couple of decades, poor glad got a bad rap–being associated with funerals, grandmas garden, or fringe botanical societies. But I am seeing them more frequently now in flower shops and farmer’s markets. This glad came from a gladioli farm in southern Minnesota. Growing glads is a labor of love here in the North. Each autumn, the corms must be lifted and stored over winter in a frost-free place, then replanted in spring. This particular farmer does it for the pure pleasure of seeing their beauty. He donates all the flowers to the local nursing homes in August and September. He also likes experimenting with hybridizing his own varietals, naming each successful new color variant after one of his grandchildren–who now help him in the garden every summer. A sweet story all around.

gladiolus