Very pretty - I really like that first one. Did you plant them for cutting? A tall vase filled with gladiolas is just beautiful. :0)

They will only bloom once and bloom depending on when you planted them. If you want an extended bloom period plant a number of them every two weeks for two months that way you will have blooms for a much longer period. I like planting mine in big groups and placing stakes around them for support as they tend to flop. This year I planted them 2 inches deeper than recommended as I hear that they do not flop this way. I will let you know if this works as mine were planted late this year.

Those are beautiful pictures!

There are also different bloom times among Gladiolus. Some are early blooming, some mid-season and some late blooming. Some companies will tell you what each variety is and some don't. Sometimes they will indicate how many days from planting to bloom, then you can plan ahead for blooms when ever you want. Each flower stalk will be in bloom for about two weeks I would guess, I've never timed them exactly. ( : Occasionally, if you have really big corms, they will send up side branches with blooms; they will be smaller than the central bloom stalk and bloom a little bit later. After they die back in the fall be sure to dig them. I find them to be very easy to store over the winter. If you want more details on that process let me know and I'd be glad to share what I do. Other than that I don't do anything for them. You can stake them, but it's a lot of work so I just cut the ones that tip over and bring them in the house.

I'm a big Gladiolus fan. What Gardenbench said about days from planting to blooming is correct. I can't vouch for how accurate the "days" count is because I'm sure many factors could speed up or hinder growing and flowering. In my warm zone though the earlier the dates the better. Glad flowers don't last as long in the heat, so in warmer climates early bloom dates are best. I believe the first Glad you have is a variety called Priscilla. It's one of my favorites and quite perennial here in my zone. In your zone you may have to dig up the bulbs in late fall and overwinter them in a cool basement or garage. One of the prettier plantings with Glads I've done is to put daylilies in front of tall Glads. A coupling of a white daylily (Joan Senior) with tall pink Glads in back (Good News Glad)was nicely successful this year. The upright sword shaped Glad foliage behind the arching leaves of the daylily complimented each other even before the bloom began. They are blooming together as we speak. This Glad overwintered from last years spring planting. Another perennial Glad for me. Hooray! Here is a link to a good American Gladiolus farm. In this economy it's nice to keep the dollars at home if you can and this company is a good one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gladiolus supplier