Gladiolus
Green Star
“The gladiolus that converts the sceptics. 'Green Star' brings height, drama, and a shade of green you won't find anywhere else.”
— ROSIE
Rosie's Take
Gladioli get an unfair reputation as a slightly old-fashioned, slightly municipal-park kind of flower. I blame the stiff, identical rows you see at flower shows — all those rigid spikes in primary colours standing to attention like soldiers who've been told off.
'Green Star' is the one that changed my mind. The colour is extraordinary — a soft, luminous chartreuse that seems to glow from within, like light through a new leaf. It's the kind of green that makes every other flower in the arrangement look better, which is a rare and generous quality in a stem.
They bring serious height and drama to a vase. A few stems of 'Green Star' with some garden roses and trailing foliage is one of my favourite summer arrangements — all that vertical energy balanced by something soft and rounded. They open gradually from the bottom of the spike upward, which gives you a good ten days of evolving interest.
I've started growing them in my cutting garden — you plant the corms in spring, stagger the planting over a few weeks, and by July you've got this succession of those luminous green spikes. They're surprisingly easy. And that colour — it works with absolutely everything. Peach, plum, white, navy. I haven't found a pairing it can't handle.
Where to Buy
If you want to try gladiolus for yourself, here's where I'd point you:
“Flower Station carry gladioli through the summer months and their 'Green Star' stems are usually a decent length — proper tall ones.”
Order This Flower →“Bloom & Wild have started including gladioli in their seasonal boxes, and the green ones are particularly lovely when they turn up.”
Order This Flower →✿ From the folklore cabinet
The name 'gladiolus' comes from the Latin 'gladius,' meaning sword, because of those blade-shaped leaves. Roman gladiators wore them as talismans, believing they brought victory. In the language of flowers, gladioli represent strength of character — which feels right for a flower that can reach a metre tall without flinching.
