I did when I lived where they are not hardy. I do not where I am now because they can survive over winter just fine.
One lady had gladiolus leaves growing in a garden. The previous owner had planted them. The gladiolus were never lifted up. Some of the leaves were so short they looked like strands of grass.
I garden in New England. They are not hardy here & must be lifted in the fall & stored. At least, assuming toy want to grow them again.
Petronius, without knowing the location of the garden you saw, it's hard to imagine why the glads seemed to be shrinking. I found a bunch of them in the lawn here in AL during a drought. All of the grass was dead but there were still some green things. I realized they were glads after digging a few up. A few years after being moved to a place where they would not be mowed, they became full size, blooming plants. I do not know what else would shrink them, except maybe being planted much too deeply, or maybe from being at the north edge of hardiness. Generally, the bulbs I've had over the years get bigger and more mature with age, until they eventually reach their maximum size. Some can take several years to reach a mature size. Gladiolus make tons of baby bulbs that take a few years to reach a mature size. Maybe that is what you were seeing, a crop of younger individuals along with the older ones.
Yep, those short leaves were baby bulbs putting out growth, as they mature the leaves will get larger but at the rate they make baby bulbs there will always be small leaves in the mix.
@purpleinopp, I believe that you are correct. They may have been younger gladiolus along with the older ones.
