Bulbs
picture by : Shannon Marie Ferguson / Shutterstock .
Gladiolus flowers are a gold monetary standard in the florist trade , but they are also prosperous and economical to grow at home plate . Avid glad fans often fill entire rows or garden beds with them for use in bouquets , and others pick out to keep them with other recurrent flowers in the garden — where hummingbirds really eff them !
On this pageboy : Basics|Types|Planting|Care|Pictures|Cut & Display Glads
On this page :
BASICS
Botanical name:
Gladiolusxhortulanus
Common names:
Common gladiolus , garden glad , and sword lily ( because of the farseeing , pointed leaves )
Zones:
repeated in zone 8 - 10 . Can be grown as annual in zones 2 - 7 . SomeG. nanustypes are hardy to zona 4 or 5 .
Plant type:
Although often labeled as “ summer bulbs , ” gladioli are herbaceous perennial that uprise from bulb - like corm covered with a fibrous papery cutis .
Exposure:
Full sunshine
Height:
1 to 5 feet
Bloom time:
From other summer until frost , depending on the cultivar and when the corm are planted .
Flower characteristics:
Glads follow in nigh any color and shade ( except for true amobarbital sodium ) in both solid and multicolored forms . Depending on the cultivar , the petals may be frilly , prance , semi - ruffled or plain , and the size can rate from miniature ( under 2 ½ column inch in diameter ) to gigantic ( over 5 column inch ) . The flowers are typically arranged on only one side of the stem and undefendable in chronological sequence from the bottom up , with the large flower at the base .
TYPES OF GLADIOLUS
You ’ll come up countless cultivars of gladiolus in local garden center field and catalog , all derived from various combinations of more than 250 species , most of which are native to southerly and central Africa and Eurasia .
The three main beaming radical are :
PLANTING GLADIOLUS
Gladiolus corm ready for plant . picture by : Longfield Gardens .
When to plant:
Start implant beaming corms as early as a month before the median last frost particular date in your area . Depending on the cultivar , glad take an average of 90 days after planting before they flower . stretch along the bloom season by succession planting corms at two - week intervals through early July and by mixing varieties that mature at different times . Make your last planting about 12 weeks before the first frost date .
Where to plant:
industrial plant glads in flower beds and borders , veggie gardens , cut bloom garden , and even containers . All they want is a sunny location that is protected from wind to avoid price to the tall flower stalks . Use them to fill space and tally erect interest in an established flower garden , as they will bloom in belated summertime when many other flower fade .
Planting depth and spacing:
Gladiolus corms can vary in size , depending on the eccentric . For best solution , conform to the testimonial given on the package . Always plant corm with the flatter side facing downward , and the pointed ending facing up .
Soil:
Glads are n’t fussy and will thrive in many unlike soil types , but well - drain stain is a must . Before planting , work the soil several inches deeper than the planting depth of the corm and meliorate it with constitutional matter if necessary .
For more on planting and storing bulbs:
Bulbs 101
GLADIOLUS CARE
Staking:
Glads that spring up 3 to 4 feet or tall will likely necessitate to be impale or caged to prevent the stalks from flex and break . prepare the stakes in the priming coat at planting time to avoid wrong to the corm .
Watering:
After planting , water glads thoroughly and then keep the soil evenly moist throughout the get season . During dry atmospheric condition , inebriate the footing good to append the eq of an inch of rain per week . To aid conserve moisture and command weeds , apply a 2- to 4 - column inch layer of mulch around your plants . ( SeeHow to Mulch and Avoid Mistakes . )
Pest problems:
The biggest scourge to gladioli arethrips , tiny flying insects that feed on the foliage and peak buds . Thrips are backbreaking to blot without a enlarge glass , so watch your glads for signs of thrip terms , which includes silvery streaks and minuscule livid patches on the leaves and buds that fail to open .
Winter care & storage:
After a glad blooms , the original corm begins to shrivel away and a unexampled one forms for the next year ’s growth . In expanse where gladiolus are n’t stout , you could winter the newly make corm until the following spring by digging them up in fall once the foliage has been killed by frost . Here are the basic steps :
GLADIOLUS PICTURES
exposure by : grjo02022 © Visions BV , Netherlands / Johan Groot .
Gladiolus‘Black beaut ’
Why we love it : Nearly inglorious blooms with mystifying Burgundy wine highlights are as plush as velvet . specially dramatic when copulate in the garden or a vase with a everlasting ashen glad , such as ‘ White Prosperity . ’
Height:4 to 5 feet improbable
Days until bloom:70 to 100
Also try:‘Espresso ’ and ‘ Black Jack ’ , which also have luxuriant burgundy - red flowers .
photograph by : Longfield Gardens .
Gladiolus‘Green Star ’
Why we love it : In the motley flower garden and in floral arrangements , this chance upon beaming with ruffled flower the colour of lime sherbet is a refreshing complement to fuchsia , dreary purpleness , orange , and other bold flower colors .
Height:3 to 4 foot tall
Days until bloom:70 to 75
Also try:‘Kiev , ’ a showy chartreuse - common glad with pinkish highlights and impressive 4 - inch - diam blooms .
Photo by : visi04474 © Visions BV , Netherlands / VisionsPictures & Photography .
Gladiolus‘Peter Pyrus communis ’
Why we love it : Velvety blossom the color of peach sorbet open to reveal brilliant strawberry - red center . Its tall vertical spikes and strappy foliage also add a warm vertical component to the garden .
years until bloom:60 to 100
Also try:‘Boone ’ , a hardy zone 5 glad with apricot prime and yellow throat marked with red .
Gladiolus‘Priscilla ’
Why we hump it : adorable , ladylike , and utterly ravish , with frilly clean peak and light yellow centers , all fringe in red-hot pink .
Also try:‘Charming Beauty ’ , a miniature beaming with bubble - glue pink floret and bright pink accents .
photograph by : Roger Cope / Alamy Stock Photo .
Gladiolus‘Princess Margaret Rose ’
Why we love it : predominate spikes of yellowed - orangeness prime edged in red heating up the summer garden with all the tropical colors of a Tequila Sunrise .
Also try:‘Jester ' , with ruffled apricot - icteric petals and burnished orange - red throats .
Photo by : Del Boy / Shutterstock .
Gladiolus nanus‘Prins Claus ’
Why we have intercourse it : This hardy miniature happy puts on a dramatic exhibit year after twelvemonth , first showing off its arrant white petals then open to unveil bright splotches of fuchsia . As a bonus , the corms of this zona 4 repeated can overwinter in the ground .
Height:24 to 30 inch grandiloquent
Bloom meter : May through July
Also try:‘Elvira ’ , another moth-eaten - stout glad with sick salmon - pinkish blooms punctuate by smudges of deep pink .
photograph by : JRJfin / Shutterstock .
Gladiolus‘White Prosperity ’
Why we have intercourse it : Pristine coke - white flowers and ruffled flower petal up to 4 inch across make this glad one of the most versatile in the garden or vase . Each statuesque spike stand 18 to 20 peak .
Also try:‘Albus ’ , a lilliputian pure - lily-white nanus glad under 2 foot tall .
Photo by : visi08411 © Visions BV , Netherlands / VisionsPictures & Photography .
Gladiolus‘Wine and rosiness ’
Why we love it : Even more romanticistic than crimson roses , a poetic opus of soft , ruffled pinkish bloom embellished with wine - cherry hearts ensnare by a aura of snowy . Also mature early , expose its comeliness just a couple of months after planting .
Days until bloom:65 to 70
Also try:‘Mon Amour ’ , another moony tricolored glad in softer tones of pink , pale yellow , and ivory .
