Gladiolus are very special .  This one was a gift from one of my customers.  It is the darkest purple color ever and looks like velvet.  Gladiolus are perennial.  Because of the shape of the leaf, this plant has also been called sword lily, and in Rome it was considered the flower of the gladiators.  The name gladiolus is from a Latin word meaning "sword".

This is the flower for August, according to the English floral calendar.