The event is one of three state gladiolus shows the Minnesota Gladiolus Society puts on yearly. While other shows have different locations every year, New Ulm has had a gladiolus show every year since 2009.

This year 330 individual gladiolus spikes, of numerous varieties, spanned several tables. Apart from individual spikes, 77 floral arrangements were made.

One competition was held for the spikes, and two for the arrangements. Decorative is for the best arrangement design without a required theme. Interpretive challenges people to make an arrangement based on a theme, which was the Summer Olympics this year.

With the first show of the season every year, a special Carl Fischer award was given to the competitor who had the best design of the whole show.

A full slate of spikes and arrangements of gladiolus flowers was available for viewing at the Brown County Free Fair Sunday.

Show Chairwoman Joy Clobes said the themes usually center around an event or activity, either locally or globally.

“For example, a few years ago, Schells Brewery was having its 125th anniversary,” she said. They were supposed to have the state amateur baseball tournament. We did beer, baseball, and firefighters [for the theme]. Sometimes I can’t come up with something national or local, then we do oldie hit songs or something like that.”

Minnesota Gladiolus Society President Lew Wallace said they also like to give categories that leave plenty of room for interpretation.

“If you say “Gone With the Wind”, that gives you all kinds of things for movement,” he said. “When you go with Paris, France, it gives you a wide variety. We had four Eiffel Towers. For competitions, we had balance beam, wrestling, archery, equestrian, and synchronized swimming.”

Wallace said they try to make their competitions inclusive. For those whose gladiolus crops were less than expected, supplementary gladiolus were available for use. For arrangements, it was not required competitors use gladiolus only. They did have to be the main component.

This table showcased the interpretive gladiolus entries, which were designed with the Summer Olympics as a theme.

This show is a warm-up for the MGS, as their next showcase will take place at the Minnesota State Fair during the first weekend. It helps competitors shake off the rust and run through the steps needed to prepare their flowers.

“Our exhibitors come from 4 to 4:35 p.m. Friday,” Wallace said. “Most of us will work all through the night staging and creating our arrangements. They’re all built on site because it’s pretty hard to put some of these in a car or a trailer and haul them with bumpy roads.”

Even though they’ve been coming for around 15 years, Clobes said one of the main reactions they get from people is awe and surprise.

“We still have people that come in and say, ‘I didn’t know this was here,'” she said. “That’s the number one reaction that we get. It still gets me to this day because we’ve been here for a while.”

Wallace said one thing many don’t know about gladiolus is the displays are only available to see there. They are then disassembled because the flowers do not last long after being assembled.

“It’s perishable art,” he said. “Somebody asked me yesterday, ‘Do you haul these to the state fair?’ I’m like, ‘Well after a few days [they die]. You don’t have the jello salad sitting on the table a week later.’ We enjoy them for the moment, then we tear them down.”

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