O.K. Call it what you will - sword lily, gladiolus, pluralize as gladioli, "common speak" as gladiola - my whole reason for posting was not to start a dialog on the proper name for more than one gladiolus. It was to say "Isn't this a nice thing for the corn and soybean farmer to do, raise a whole lot of these corms and donate the flowers for hospital patients." Which apparently was so minor a thought as to be completely overlooked. In venery there are some wonderful collective nouns, in some instances refined as to whether the group - geese in this instance - are in the air (a skein or wedge), on the ground (a flock or gaggle), or on the water (a plump of geese.) But I am not aware of any collective naming of flowers. Judy