The Only Sword That Cuts with Sheer Beauty

“And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” (Matthew 6:28-29)

My dear mother had the greenest of green thumbs, a trait she inherited from her own father, no doubt. Mom was a master gardener who often spoke about the beauty of the flowers she encountered in her work—flowers for her were nature’s gifts to humanity.

I thought she called an extravagantly beautiful species of flowers gladiolas, but it turns out that she was saying its correct name, which is singular, gladiolus, meaning “sword” in Latin. (Plural, gladioli.)

It has to be the only sword that can cut to the heart with its sheer beauty.

There are about 300 gladiolus species, some of which sort of look like swords if you have a good imagination.

I think the name derives from their blooms that grow right off the stem, not on branches, so their orientation is always upward like a raised sword, both of which come to sharp points.

Then again, some of them are just gorgeous blooms on thin stalks that look nothing like swords at all. But flowers don’t care about names or forms, do they? “They toil not, neither do they spin”…they just exist to beautify our world.

And the gladioli fulfill that mission with incredible panache.

A Few Fun Facts

You’d think these beauties would wilt at the drop of a hat due to their delicacy, but gladioli are pretty dynamic and durable flowers in spite of their glamor. Here are a few fun facts about them:

• Gladioli are members of the Iris family and are sometimes called “Sword Lilies.”

• They are typical flowers for celebrating Fortieth Wedding Anniversaries.

• A full 260 of the 300 species are native to South Africa but gladioli can be found on every continent except Antarctica because of their adaptability.

• They’re resistant to deer and other plant-eating animals—make sure not to let your pets eat them because they’re toxic to dogs, cats, and horses.

• They are relatively maintenance-free flowers that just need periodic watering and sunlight to put on their best performances.

• After planting the bulbs (called corms), you’ll have to wait 2-3 years for the plant to spring up from the ground. Like all good things, they make you wait.

• A new species, the Gladiolus mariae, was “discovered” as recently as 2019 growing in a forest preserve in a mountain region of Guinea, West Africa. (GM is the orange bloom on the left below.)

• Oh, and the boy who won the very First National Spelling Bee in 1925 won on the word “Gladiolus”!

As you can see from all the pictures in this post, the colors and diversity of the gladioli are astonishing. Natural exuberance at its finest.

On the one hand, my mom was right, they are gifts of nature. On the other hand, they are a sacred window too: God’s reminder that the One who creates such beauty that withers can also sustain His beloved children through all the travails of this life.

So we “need not worry” about our livelihoods—that gladiolus message of the Gospel that cuts to the heart of things, doesn’t it?

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Photo Credits: Via Wikimedia Commons, Audrey (Pastel); Neelix (Pinkish); Nxr-at (Purple); Leonard Blumberg (Fucsia); SAplants (Purple-Yellow); Takkk (White); Alejandro Bayer Tamayo (Orange); Andrew massyn (Red-Orange); Uleli (Tantastic); John Robert McPherson (Bright Orange); Via Gardenia.com (White-Red); Via African Plants (Gladiolus mariae); Via 123RF.com (Bright Yellow and Feature).