Abyssinian Gladiolus

I was given a few of these bulbs but they are quite tiny. How large is a mature bulb?

oh yes, they are little. I would describe them as the size of a filbert nut or a little bigger than a jelly bean. I've never seen any bigger than that. Fantastic fragrance. You will enjoy them. I haven't been the luckiest growing those in houston area, but I think they do better in slightly cooler areas.

I think they also produce bulbils and those are little, about the size of coffee beans, maybe a tad smaller. You can plant those too but they will take two seasons to produce flowers. First year you might only get greens.

Yep, mine were quite small so I planted a bunch of them in a pot and put them in my greenhouse to encourage them to grow bigger. I could have planted them outside, but i was afraid I'd lose them and not tend to them well enough. I plan to plant them outside next spring.
Thanks for the help.

They are sold small, but not as small as the bulblets they will make. You would be surprised at how large they get in a season with the right conditions. If yours are the new small bulbs then I would think vossner is correct in that it will take two seasons to flower, but that is only next year!

We have a gladiolus forum, read this thread and you will get a better insight.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/698836/

thanks. it was good to learn from that thread that they like warmth as I live in a cool area. I will keep my pot of them in the greenhouse.