get to flowering size. Clumps should be dug up and divided every few years to keep them vigorous. They are affected by thrips, (thrip simplex), and wasps Dasyproctus bipunctatus, which burrow into the flowers causing them to collapse and die. Numerous garden cultivars have been developed, of which ‘Robinetta’ (a G. recurvus hybrid), with pink flowers, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. In culture Gladiolus is the birth flower of August. Gladioli are the flowers associated with a fortieth wedding anniversary. American Ragtime composer Scott Joplin composed a rag called “Gladiolus Rag” "Gladiolus" was the word Frank Neuhauser correctly spelled to win the 1st National Spelling Bee in 1925. The Australian comedian and personality Dame Edna Everage's signature flowers are gladioli, which she refers to as "gladdies". The ancient Graeco-Roman god Pluto was said to wear a wreath of what is traditionally identified as a type of Gladiolus, called phasganion or xiphion in Koine Greek. The Mancunian singer Morrissey is known to dance with gladioli hanging from his back pocket or in his hands, especially during the era of The Smiths. This trait of his was made known in the music video for "This Charming Man", where he swung a bunch of yellow gladioli while singing. References Bibliography G. R. Delpierre and N. M. du Plessis (1974). The winter-growing Gladioli of Southern Africa. Tafelberg-Uitgewers Beperk 120 colour photographs and descriptions. Peter Goldblatt (1996). A monograph of the genus Gladiolus in tropical Africa (83 species). Timber Press Peter Goldblatt, J. C. Manning (1998). Gladiolus in southern Africa: Systematics, Biology, and Evolution, including 144 watercolor paintings. Cape Town: Fernwood Press. External links Taxonomy of Gladiolus in GBIF Biodiversity Data Portal Cormous plants Garden plants Iridaceae genera