is this gladiolus 'byzantine'

It certainly looks like it, SBG.
Lucky you. It's a beautiful colour.

Absolutely. They look beautiful growing en masse, although they are rather short-lived. In Cornwall we call them 'Whistling Jacks' but don't ask me why.

oh goody. the ones i have seen in magazines lately have been a much paler colour. but as this must be at least 13yrs old [length of time in house] it will be from old gene pool stock. it can stay then.

You have it exactly right SBG and it is a beautiful colour. We had them growing full of a border when I was at home a young girl!!! co! that's a long time ago. I took some with me when I got married and they never flowered, I brought them on again to our retirement home and low and behold they flower every year, can't tell you why. Immagine I gave no thought much to the garden in those busy years! and I am just grateful now I have flowers after forty years.

My front garden is full of them, and they multiply each year! I love them, and even though they pop up in unexpected places, I don't mind at all. How nice that you've got them, Sbg!

I've never heard them called 'Whistling Jacks'...I suppose it's a local name!

I have some which I planted last autumn. This lovely flower then flowered for me in the second half of May for only 12 days. I was rather disappointed. Please can anyone advise me? If I keep them going, will they develop a bigger bulb underground so as to be capable of producing a longer and better flowering next spring? In fact, I have them in a quite large pot, and am wondering whether to throw them away, or keep them and treasure them in the hope of it doing ever better. (I have found that some of my lilies seem to have 'built up' underground too).

A question on this subject for Spitzhenry, what sort of soil have you got? although mine flower but in the past 14 years in our retirement home, they have never increased, I am amazed that yours pop up everywhere. We have very heavy clay soil.

These grow wild on the Isle of Wight and the hedgerows are full of them during the season. Lovely flowers.

Name by the way is properly Gladiolus communis ssp. byzantinus.
They do prefer a lighter soil to be successful in the garden and a position where the corms can be ripened in the sun after flowering and where any excess Winter moisture is sucked away. That is why they often do well in hedgerows, the trees take away the water.
They rarely do well outside here, we are just too cold for them.

I love these seaburngirl...featured at Chelsea this year....already on my 'wish list'.....:>)

If anyone is buying them make sure they come from a good supplier if you want this lovely colour, some can be a bit disappointing. Jonathan they can be short flowering but they are like those treaures such as iris, peonies and lilies, we nurture them for 11 months just for that 1 month of stupendous lovely bloom!

Beautiful.......we have these in the garden where I work....fabulous!

They don't flower for a long time, no, in fact they are just fading now. My soil is quite good, free draining, and these are in a sunny bed. I don't do anything to them except to cut the dead flowers off and then pull out the dead leaves when they turn brown.