Out of Africa - Garden Plants – Gladiolus

Name - From the Latin ‘gladius’, meaning sword, because of the shape of the leaves.

Description - Colour: White and soft pastels, pinks, oranges, peach, yellow, red and purple. A tall lance of coloured flowers that grow all around the central stem, narrowing towards the top, this is one of the most spectacular of flowers and the wide range of hybrid colours means it is popular for dramatic flower displays both indoors and out.

Origin – this plant originates in South Africa, like many other bulbs. Gladioli like a lot of water and will suffer seriously if not given enough either while growing or when cut. When choosing your gladioli, make sure you understand the difference between the tender varieties (which can't be left in the ground over winter) and hardy kinds (which can. The choice of hardy varieties is relatively small and doesn’t include all the colours in the tender range. All gladioli like rich but free-draining soil in a sunny, sheltered position. An ideal location would be the foot of a south-facing wall or in a walled garden. Set them four inches deep and four inches apart. On heavy clay soils, add well-rotted manure or compost to lighten the soil and set each corm on a layer of sand to improve drainage. Over the surface, set a layer of gravel to keep off slugs and snails which love this bulb. After flowering, remove the flower stem but leave the foliage to continue growing into the autumn because it feeds the bulb for the following year. In late autumn, lift the corms and dry them off removing soil and dead foliage and store in a frost-free place.

For decoration – Because the tips will grow toward the light, you should cut the topmost tips which improve the flowering lower down and remove faded flowers to encourage others to open.

Africa Gladioli photograph by x-eyedblonde, used under a creative commons attribution licence

 

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