The Gladiolus

One of the most popular flowers of the day is the Gladiolus. All things

considered, it is our best summer bloomer. Nothing in the floral world

exceeds it in variety and range of color. This color is in some

varieties dark and rich in scarlets, crimsons, and purples, in others

dainty and delicate in pink, pearly flesh, almost pure white, and

softest rose, while the midway sorts are in brilliant carmines,

cherry-reds, lilacs, and intermediate tones too numerous to mention.

Nearly all varieties show most magnificent combinations of color that

baffle description. Comparatively few varieties are one color

throughout.



Most plants in which such a bewildering variety of color is found have a

tendency to coarseness, but this objection cannot be urged against the

Gladiolus. It has all the delicacy of the Orchid. Its habit of growth

fits it admirably for use in the border. Its ease of cultivation makes

it a favorite with the amateur who has only a limited amount of time to

spend among the flowers. It is a plant that any one can grow, and it is

a plant that will grow almost anywhere. It is one of the few plants that

seem almost able to take care of themselves. Beyond putting the corms in

the ground, in spring, and an occasional weeding as the plant develops,

very little attention is required.



To secure the best effect from it, the Gladiolus should be planted in

masses. Single specimens are far less satisfactory. One must see fifty

or a hundred plants in a bed ten or fifteen feet long to fully

appreciate what it is capable of doing.



The time to plant it is in May, after the soil has become warm. Nothing

is gained by earlier planting.



The bed should be spaded to the depth of a foot, at least. Then the soil

should be worked over until it is fine and light. A liberal quantity of

some good fertilizer should be added to it. Commercial fertilizers seem

to suit it well, but the use of barnyard manure gives excellent results,

and I would prefer it, if obtainable.



The corms should be put about four inches below the surface, care being

exercised at the time of planting to see that they are right side up.

It is often difficult to decide this matter before sprouting begins,

but a little careful examination of the corm will soon enable you to

tell where the sprouts will start from, and this will prevent you from

getting it wrong-side up. As soon as the plants send up a stalk, some

provision should be made for future support. If you prefer to stake the

beds, set the stakes in rows about two feet apart. Wire or cord need not

be stretched on them until the stalks are half grown. The reason for

setting the stakes early in the season is--you know just where the corm

is then, but later on you will not be able to tell where the new corms

are, and in setting the stakes at random you are quite likely to injure

them. When you apply the cord or wire to the stakes, run it lengthwise

of the bed, and then across it in order to furnish a sufficient support

without obliging the stalks to lean from the perpendicular to get the

benefit of it.



For several seasons past, I have made use of a coarse-meshed wire

netting, placed over the bed, and fastened to stakes about eighteen

inches high. The stalks find no difficulty in making their way through

the large meshes of the netting, and with a support of this kind they

dispose themselves in a natural manner that is far more satisfactory

than tying them to stakes, as we often see done. Some kind of a support

must be given if we would guard against injury caused by strong winds.

When the flower-stalk is once prostrated it is a difficult matter to get

it back in place without breaking it.



If netting is used it need not be placed over the bed before the middle

of July. By that time most of the weeds which require attention during

the early part of the season will have been disposed of. Putting on the

netting at an earlier period would greatly interfere with the proper

cultivation of the bed. The soil should be kept light and open until the

flower-stalks begin to show their buds.



The flowering-period covers several weeks, beginning in August, and

lasting all through September.



The Gladiolus is extremely effective for interior decorative work. It

lasts for days after being cut. Indeed, if cut when the first flowers at

the base of the spike open, it will continue to develop the buds above

until all have become flowers, if the water in which the stalks are

placed is changed daily, and a bit of the end of the stalk is cut off

each time. For church use no flower excels it except the Lily, and that

we can have for only a short time, and quite often not at all.



In late October the plants should be lifted, and spread out in the

sunshine to ripen. Do not cut the stalks away until you are ready to

store the corms. Then cut off each stalk about two inches from its

junction with the corm. When the roots seem well dried out, put them in

paper bags containing perfectly dry sawdust or buckwheat shells, and

hang them in a dry place where the frost will not get at them. I would

not advise storing them in the cellar, as they generally mould or mildew

there.



Most varieties increase quite rapidly. You will find several new corms

in fall, taking the place of the old one planted in spring. Often there

will be scores of little fellows the size of a pea, clustered about the

larger corms. These should be saved, and planted out next spring. Sow

them close together in rows, as you would wheat. The following year they

will bloom.



So extensively is the Gladiolus grown at the present time that enough to

fill a good-sized bed can be bought for a small sum. And in no other way

can you invest a little money and be sure of such generous returns. What

the Geranium is to the window-garden that the Gladiolus is to the

outdoor garden, and one is of as easy culture as the other.






Some of the choicest varieties are sold at a high price. One reason for

this is--the finest varieties are slow to increase, and it takes a long

time to get much of a stock together. This is why they are so rare, and

so expensive. But many of them are well worth all that is asked for

them.



You may have a mixed collection of a thousand plants and fail to find a

worthless variety among them. Indeed, some of the very finest flowers I

have ever had have been grown from collections that cost so little that

one hardly expected to find anything but the commonest flowers among

them.