Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: The gladiolas are late – 2022
I love gladiolas. But they’re late this year. The heat, and perhaps, the fact I planted them in a container, has affected their growth. Below is a photo from last year. July 26th, 2021
August 2nd, 2022
Gladiolas are part of the Iris family but have a very different look! The sword like foliage is really awesome planted with the delicate look of some native grasses.
For those of us in cold climates, we plant the corms in Spring and wait for their beauty in late summer, and this year, wait some more!
Glads or gladiolus come in a huge variety of colors and heights from 2 to 5 ft. tall.
The taller ones should be planted in the back of a perennial bed as they may require staking. Mine are about 21/2 to 3 ft tall and look pretty anywhere I plant them!
Glads make for a gorgeous cutting flower, the blooms last for a long time.
They love full sun and plant them closer than the package says.
After their blooming is over, treat them like cannas, dig them up before the first Fall frost, allow the corms to dry in the sun, sift the soil out but leave the husks and store them in paper or cloth bags, pantyhose, or old onion sacks. Stack or hang the containers so air can move around them. My cool basement worked great, I’ve replanted mine for the past 4 years!
As I create this blog update, it’s August 7th, 2022. Here is the photo I took this morning:
