In May of this year I returned to UK for a couple of weeks, partly to attend the Chelsea Flower Show and partly to see my brothers, sisters and their families. One of the stands at Chelsea, I can't remember which one now, was offering bulbs of Gladiolus callianthus for sale (10 for 2 pounds), so I bought a bag. While I was staying with my sister in Derbyshire I potted up 3 of the bulbs and left them with her. When I got home to Cyprus I potted up the remaining 7. All of mine grew, as did the ones in UK and we compared growth rates in our regular phone conversations. Rather disappointingly mine have shown no sign of flowering and are beginning to look as though they are past it and preparing to shut down for the winter. On the other hand one of my sister's plants has decided to put on a bit of a display as the following photos that she sent me today show. Do you call that fair?