Gladiolus papilio (Butterfly Gladiolus) is a clump-forming cormous perennial with gracefully arching stems bearing up to 10 yellow or white flowers, suffused violet, with hooded upper petals and darker yellow patches on the lower petals. These nodding flowers make this species unique. Blooming in late summer and early fall, the blossoms of this hardy sword-lily rise above the foliage of narrow, gray-green leaves. This plant has underground stolons and can multiply and form dense colonies in optimum growing conditions. Native to South Africa, Butterfly Gladiolus occurs in wetlands or marshes and is distributed in the eastern, summer-rainfall part of the country. This plant was cultivated as early as the 1860s at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in Britain.

• Grows up to 24-36 in. tall (60-90 cm) and 6-18 in. wide (15-45 cm).
• Best flowering occurs in full sun in moist but well-drained soils.
• A good candidate for beds and borders and cottage gardens. Spectacular in cut flower arrangements.
• Keep an eye out for thrips, aphids, slugs, gray mold, and corm rot.
• Lift when the foliage dies back, discard old corms and store new corms in a dry frost-free place until planting in the spring. In milder areas, a thick dry winter mulch may suffice.
• Propagate by separating cormlets when dormant. Plant your corms 4-6 in. deep (10-15 cm).
• Toxic to dogs, toxic to cats, toxic to horses.
• Gladiolus papilio is native to South Africa.