Geez, my glads are hosses! They are always straight and tall, though if the corm is not planted level the stalk will try to grow up vertical anyway (which means that if it is transplanted to where the corm is level the stalk will point sideways!) But they have never grown twisty... I have only grown the "buy a bag of 6 at Big Lots" type. Perhaps you have "hardy Gladiolus" which are more gracile and dainty?

Hi again Clou (Is that short for Cindy Lou?),

I got my glads at Costco in a bag of 70. They were supposed to be white with pink throats and pink with yellow thoats. I started them all in styrofoam cups in March. I don't think you have to do that -- I was just anxious to get started. They all came up and grew well -- like weeds. I transplanted them when it got warm enough into a large bed in the front yard. It gets sun until about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. The bed was deep enough for them to stand upright in and I totally filled it in with the cheapest bags of "Topsoil" that I could find. I have watered them often -- probably every other day or every third day. They have been blooming for a couple weeks now and are bright purple and cream colored -- not what I wanted, but still pretty. Below is a picture of them. I don't know what could be wrong with yours. Have you given them any fertilizer? I've sprayed mine with the Miracle Gro from the little thing that attaches to your water hose every couple of weeks like it recommends.

Katie

Here is a link that might be useful: Katie's Glads

A word about Glads... once you have them, you will never be rid of them, unless you feel like sifting the soil to find every tiny Glad cormlet that your big Glad corms gave birth to underneath themselves! Which I have done, by the way!

Glads do get thrip, which will cause the blooms to be stunted and streaked, and often cause the foliage to look puny with light streaks. Don't know about twisting, although heavy thrip damage could do that, perhaps. Thrip further help all us gardeners out by being a major vector of plant viruses, which can cause serious stunting and deformity.

Thrip are difficult to control as they're tiny and hide inside buds and foliage crevices and hard to hit with spray. There are predator bugs -- a kind of mite, I think -- you can buy that eat them, which may help. Gardens Alive or another organic supplier should offer the predator. If it's a virus, it's just like with humans -- no cure. If it were me, unless I was incredibly attached to that bunch of glads, I'd ditch 'em by sending them to the dump in a plastic bag (not composting them) and buy new.

Marty