The Rural Voice, 2003-03, Page 42Gardening
Glads for the garden and not the funeral home
Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
Years ago I eliminated gladioli
from my garden. I was never too fond
of the great showy stalks of blooms.
Where I worked as a young teen, we
grew them for the main house for
grand bouquets in the front hall or on
the sideboard in the dining room. The
larger and brighter they were the
better. As I grew up I saw them more
and more at funerals and that was
enough to turn me off.
It was once considered my part of
the spring ritual — sorting the corms.
peeling back the papery tunics,
dusting with fungicide. I would
carefully look each one over and toss
any that were shriveled, blackened or
soft. My father would bring a basin of
some foul smelling liquid that all the
corms had to be soaked in before
planting. It may have been a weak
solution of DDT for all I know. My
Dad explained it was to kill any bugs
that had wintered over under the
glads' papery covering.
Seemed to make
sense then.
But glads
have changed
over the
years and
for those
who liked
the
carnival of
colour it is still
there with more
vibrancy and
flamboyance
than ever before:
colours that will make
any artist or gardener
gasp with
delight. The show or exhibition glads
are taller, up to six feet, and while the
taller ones need staking the smaller
ones are fairly sturdy.
Then there are the miniature glads
that have caught my eye. Finer
blooms that are ruffled, hooded or
wide open, spaced out along the
stems for a more informal look, they
are shorter, making them more •
suitable for the average home
arrangement.
Better breeding has made gladiolas
more resistant to fusarium rot and
thrips. Some gardeners pop glads
into their perennial border for that
wild splash of colour later in summer.
You can find any colour that will
complement your garden plan, but
you have to be careful not to disturb
other spring bulbs or perennial roots
or trample shoots when digging in or
digging out in the fall.
Think carefully on choosing the
location for light. If there is
something that comes out later in the
spring that will shade that particular
spot then you would be better not to
plant your corms there. Glads need
full sun and should be planted in a
rich, fast draining soil beginning
when the trees start to leaf out and
continuing at three week intervals
until early July or 60 days before your
first frost. Blooming time depends on
the variety chosen. Some take as long
as 120 days to bloom while others
bloom in just under 80 days.
Before you plant, carefully remove
the papery tunics or covering and
soak in a weak fertilizer solution for a
day or two. Good corms have high
tops; flat or concave tops are the
mark of old corms. If there are any
cuts or open wounds, dust with a
fungicide. Plant about anywhere
from three to five inches with
shallower depths for the smaller
corms or if in clay soil. You can
apply a light fertilizer that is
low in nitrogen at
least an inch below the
bulb or wait until it
breaks the surface and
top dress with a mixture
of compost and bone meal,
about a couple of teaspoons per bulb.
There are great bulb booster mixtures
on the market (9-9-6). While the
bulbs are the stored food for the plant
38 THE RURAL VOICE
it needs to be
replenished as the plant grows in
order to be viable for the next
growing season.
To offer added support aside from
staking, you can hill the plant as the
shoots break through the surface.
During early growth, gladiolus must
never suffer from lack of water. In
time of drought soak the soil deeply
every few days. Mulching helps,
especially since the plants themselves
cast almost no shade.
After they have finished blooming,
if you haven't cut the flower stalks
to take inside, trim them back to two
inches after the stems have begun
to yellow, and dig them up carefully.
Let dry in a frost free space for a
week. Carefully clean off, checking
for rot and disease. You can ease off
the young corms growing along the
base of the corm. Store in ventilated
bags in a cool, but not cold, dry place.
Onion bags do the trick nicely.
You can increase your number of
glads quite easily. To force more
prolific numbers of corms trim the
spent flowers to stop reproducing
seeds. The small cormlets like their
older counter -parts are prone to rot
so plant in a free draining soil mix.
To keep better track of them plant
in seed flats or plastic pots. They
should be covered to twice their own
depth. They can be planted out in the
garden as well at two to three
inches apart. Grow for two to three
years before expecting any blooms.
Lift in the fall like you would the
mature corms. Soon you will be
trading with the neighbours.
One final note. Get the jump
on spring by planting your summer
bulbs in pots about six weeks
before the last frost. I have my
cannas eagerly awaiting their
covering of potting soil. We had
planted the odd ones that didn't
make it into the garden into large
tubs around the patio. It was a slow
start for them but they still made a
great show. So this spring we are
planning to start them earlier in
their tubs and will enjoy their
bronze foliage on the patio sooner
than last year.0