Gladiolus 'Old Fort'

The year was 2004, the highway, Interstate 40, the exit, Old Fort, NC. Though it isn't advertised, old Ford vans can go from 60 mph to 0 in just a few seconds as I can attest when I saw this long-abandoned gladiolus growing by the guardrail just outside Asheville, NC. Upon closer inspection, it was not the Gladiolus dalenii often found in southern gardens, but an old garden hybrid...a very winter-hardy hybrid. Back in our trial gardens, Gladiolus 'Old Fort' produces stunning 7' tall sturdy flower spikes, starting in late June and continuing into July, often with repeat flowering...a hummingbird favorite. This glad perhaps had a name in a former life, but after being stranded on the highway for years, its memory ain't what it used to be, so it became a 2008 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction.