Spectacularly splashed with vibrant color strokes of vivid reds, yellows, and purples would perhaps be the best bunches in the middle of your garden or on the border lines blooming with happy smiles.

You must think of growing bunches of tall stemmed “Gladiolas”.

Spring is the best season for planting gladiolus in your garden. This time soil gets enough warmness which is sufficient for planting sweet corn. Warm soil helps gladiolus corm well.

You should ensure that the plant is only plump and has clean corms when planting. Selection according to its size is very important. Corms if small in size will more probably produce small sized flowers. There may be just leaves or there can also be no flower when the time comes. Therefore at the time of selection, you must reject the not good looking and soft or crumbly looking plants in order to avoid any chance of failure.

You should preferably select an area specifically having enough direct sunlight to plant the corms. In case you do not have such an area in your garden you may alternatively choose an area which has minimum shadow. Gladiolas would not stop growing in such an environment also.

Planting pattern is one thing you must ensure. Corms must be planted three to five inches deep and should have at least four to six inches distance between two successive corms. Having planted the corms you should not forget placing right garden mulch around the gladiolas in light thin layers. If you do not want to let the weeds grow then better place mulch in between the rows of corms plantation.

Gladiolas stems are generally very week and would easily break if the wind is blowing hard. Maintaining the health and safety of the plants becomes more important when plant begins blooming. You may place six inches up the soil heaped around the stem. This hill around the soil would help in supporting the heavy flower growth. In order to keep the plants perky and tall you may also opt for fastening it to a stake.

Spring also brings pleasant rains and watering becomes natural for your garden. You may think for watering gladiola plants for once or twice only. If weather goes good then spring rains would do the rest. In case you are not that lucky and spring season does not shower you should keep watering occasionally.

Let three months pass patiently and you will see beautiful and lovely fresh flowers blooming one day. You should also ensure that your gladiola plants do not get covered or shadowed by other plants or weeds. You must also keep the moisture of the soil maintained with proper mulching. You will conserve water this way.

Insects and plant specific diseases would put you at little panic while you are growing gladiolas. You would be required to tackle these problems meticulously. Keep a constant vigil on the aphids and trips as they tend to suck sap from plant leaves, stems, and flowers. As soon as you observe any such developments start acting immediately. Insecticidal sop spray and other pest control measures would be urgently required in this condition.

Gladiolas are generally prone to various types of virus generated diseases. When you observe general and common symptoms like stunted growth, spindling, yellow foliages, ring spot marked leaves, and pale or dead areas then you will have to try specific cures accordingly.

Infected plant should never be left as such in your garden. Pull them up off the soil at once and better destroy them. There exists no cure and proper treatment for such type of infected plants.

Onset of fall will normally gloom your garden with gladiolas and you will have to collect them in a proper way. Lift the corms and break or snip off the stalk with care. You should clean the corms and rinse them with water. Soil around the corms would thus be removed. A two week’s drying the corms is recommended. You should prefer keep them in mesh or paper bags at a place which is cool, dry, and with good air circulation.

During fall season you will be digging them up off the ground and you could easily collect the small bulbets around the base of the corms. Store the small bulbets at a proper place so that you can replant them in next spring season. It will take almost two or three years to flower but it mainly depends on the quality of soil and its fertility.

Gladiolas Pictures

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Gladiolas Question & Answers

Gladiolas Question: 1

Can flower bulbs last more than one year?

My wife has a number of gladiola bulbs that she could not plant last summer because of our move.Will they still be plantable this summer?She is also wondering about cosmos seeds which are left over from 2 years ago. She also has some other annual seeds left over. We would appreciate any advice.Thank you, all of you. That's encouraging.

Answer: 1.
Yes I have used older seeds and bulbs. they may not all sprout, but most should.
Answer: 2.
The only way to find out for sure is to plant both of them. The glads may bloom this year and cosmos seem to last forever.

The Muse
Answer: 3.
The bulbs are pretty hardy and should keep well. Not sure about those particular seeds. I would expect the same though, unless they have been exposed to high heat or extreme cold.
Answer: 4.
Yes bulbs and seeds will last for as long as you take care of them. My grandmother used to keep her bulbs in the cellar until she was ready to plant them. Back in her day friends would share bulbs so that they would all have nice flower gardens.

Gladiolas Question: 2

Please share with me what you know about planting gladiolas?

Answer: 1.
http://www.mv-voice.com/morgue/2005/2005...
try this
Answer: 2.
Plant them deep. They will have a better chance of supporting themselves upright.
Answer: 3.
Plant them about 2- 21/2 times the depth of the bulb. Sprinkle some bonemeal around the bed and the flowers will be spectacular. Be sure to plant them where they will get full sun. It might be a good thing to amend the bed with a combination of peat, cow manure and topsoil. I done this for my glads and they grew to 5 feet tall and the flowers were huge. One thing about glads.....they will spread like wildfire.....I planted 24 bulbs and had hundreds of bulbs the next year.....I gave glads away and have since tried to remove them entirely and I still have some that survive and return every year.
Answer: 4.
check out brecks.com and type in gladiolas, they'll give u some advice and info about it. it helped me out a lot

Gladiolas Question: 3

Can anyone tell me where I might order "Black Swan" Gladiolas?

Plant grows in shape of swan taking flight.

Answer: 1.
Here:
http://www.dutchflowers.com/catalog/prod...
http://www.midcitynursery.com/Bulbs/glad...
http://www.kvbwholesale.com/store/gladio...

They arrived in February at the Portland nursery:
http://www.portlandnursery.com/docs/pdfs...
Answer: 2.
Thank You! I appreciate your voting.
Good luck!
Answer: 3.
Anyone of these places should accommodate the order.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&...
Answer: 4.
try amazon, garden section, they have good choise

Gladiolas Question: 4

Peony Planting?

My mom just bought me four peonies (they look like big bulbs, not sure?). I live in Greenville, SC and we are having warm weather with lots of rain. Can I still plant these? Will they grow this year? Any replies would be great. Also she bought me a pack of "hardy" gladiolas that do not need to be dug up each year. Can I plant those as well?

Answer: 1.
Strangely, people do buy them in the spring and then plant them in the fall, but they might bloom. I would plant them - the little eye buds should be just barely under the surface. They should at least grow this year and they may flower.
Hardy glads should do OK - they do like some cold, so do not plant them deeper than with their tops a few inches under the soil. They glads may be a little "iffy" - some bulbs just like it a little cooler so they are uncertain in warmer climates. Any of these may take a year or so to really produce well - they tend to sell the bulbs younger and younger each year. If these are nice fat bulbs, you are more likely to get some production this year. If they seem a little thin and lean, they may take a year or two to fully mature. But plant them all - the glad will tolerate some light shade quite well in your climate - peonies like sun, but can take a little light shade as well.
Peonies smell like rose-scent does. Glads are nice big spikes you can cut and bring in or leave to make a nice 24" to 30" tall show. Enjoy.
Answer: 2.
Peonies have a reputation for being hard to transplant. To ensure survival, dig a hole twice the size you think sufficient, loosen the soil with compost or peat moss, toss with starter fertilizer and water vigorously to get them going and your grandkids will be enjoying those peonies.
Answer: 3.
Ideally, you would have planted them in the fall. You should plant them as soon as possible. If you don't get them in the ground, it's not likely they would last a whole season and still be alive. They will grow this year, the same as an established plant. They die back every year and re-emerge in the spring. The same is pretty much true for the glads.

Make sure you plant the bulbs upright-- not upside down. If you're not sure which side the roots will be on (the down-side) then check with a garden specialist at a nursery. (And don't plant the peonies too close together-- they get pretty big.)

Gladiolas Question: 5

Can gladiolas survive a freeze?

Answer: 1.
No they cannot. Sorry.
Answer: 2.
No. They need to be dug up and stored properly during the winter.
Answer: 3.
My Gladiolas stay in my garden year after year, and flower every September / October, we get very cold and frosty weather here in Scotland and they survive OK, once flowering is over in early winter cut the old stems down to the ground and cover with about 2" of soil, I usually stake them with bamboo canes to support them when they get too tall in mid summer, so the answer is YES they will survive a freeze, if you are concerned cover the bulbs with a layer of soil during the frosty weather, but I don't, and have no problems.

I know that most gardening books will tell you to lift, clean and store, but why all that trouble when they will survive?
Answer: 4.
I never dig mine up and they come back every year. I do live in North Central Texas, so that might make a difference.