Saturday, August 6, 2011

GLADIOLA - SWORD LIKE FOLIAGE AND LONG LASTING BLOOMS






My GLADIOLA have just started to bloom.  Now that they've started, I will have many weeks of bright and interesting blooms.  I plant my glads in groups of 5, 7 or 9, and plant them every 2 weeks apart, insuring a steady supply of them during the summer and even into the fall.  If using these charmers for flower arrangements, pick them early in the morning, when some of the bottom flowers are open, and the rest of the buds are showing color.  They will provide you with a long vase life, and when the bottom blooms wither, just pluck them off, and continue until the very top flowers are blooming. Glads grow from CORMS--and, although they are not supposed to be hardy in my climate, I didn't pull them in the fall.   This year I think probably most of them came up, so you may or may not be successful in treating them as you would a lily if you're in zone 5 or 6. However, they're easy to dig and store--just wait until well aged after their bloom, then pull out the plant with corm attached. You''ll be able to readily see where the old corm is, and it will be attached to the new corm. You can just break the old corm off of the new one and attached stalk, and then store the corms in a mesh bag in the garage, shed, or a cool, protected area--no need to pack with perlite or packing material.  Then, next spring, plant the corms and enjoy the wonderful colors, form and blooms of this exciting plant!
  
                                                                                   
Susanne Holland Spicker Mother, Grandmother, Homemaker, Gardener, Teacher, Photographer

Passion is defined as the love of, or the object(s) of affection and emotion. I am passionate about family, friends, flowers, food, photography and fabulous music! This blog is dedicated to those loves.

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