Over 250 species of Gladiolus mainly grow on mainland Africa, most of which are not reliably hardy in the UK. At Beth's we grow a small range which enjoy a sunny position, on a well-drained soil. They provide a strong, colourful vertical, amongst rounded shrubs and perennials. Some will flower earlier during spring, G. tristis, others later summer, G. papilio. In the colder areas of the UK, or if you have soils which remain waterlogged over winter, you may need to mulch the soil, or lift the bulbs.
Over much of their native range in Africa, gladioli are pollinated by sunbirds and hawk-moths; here, hummingbird hawk-moths visit the flowers as do wasps and bees, but they probably do not pollinate as they are the wrong size for the flower. There is one very rare British native, G. illyricus, but G. communis byzantinus is widely naturalized especially in coastal regions along the south coast of England in particular. It would be prudent to take steps to avoid plants spreading away from gardens in these climatically favoured spots.