Thank you to all who responded to my questions. I have more courage now about trying glads. (Not that lack of courage has ever stopped me from trying to grow impossible plants.) I hope that other would-be growers of gladiolus found the comments helpful. And I did follow Eugene Zielinski's suggestion and ordered Manning/Goldblatt's Gladiolus in Southern Africa from Amazon for "only" $62.00 with shipping. Other sites wanted up to about $85. One UK sight listed it for $43 used, but I figured with the shipping it would not end up any cheaper. And Gladiolus in Tropical Africa that Gene said used to be available for from Edw. Hamilton Bookseller, for $4, is no longer of this world. Dell