IRISH GARDENING. 



61 



Gladiolus as a Border Plant. 



A GROUP of g-ladiolus in flower is one of the most 

 striking objects in the herbaceous border. 

 Their sword like leaves and gorg-eous one- 

 sided spikes of brilliantly coloured flowers give quite 



semi-tropical appearance to the 

 garden. As they are natives of a 

 much warmer country than our 

 own the corms are lifted in the 

 autumn and replanted in spring, 

 the present month being a fairly 

 suitable time for the operation. 

 It is a general rule that plants 

 with bulbs or corms prefer a 

 well-drained soil, stagnant water 

 being particularly distasteful to 

 I hem. It has been observed that 

 any soil suitable for roses or 

 strawberries will also be suitable 

 for gladioli. Although they thrive 

 best in a fairly rich soil, yet care 

 must be taken not to let the corms 

 come into direct contact with 

 manure. If manure is needed it 

 must be buried several inches 

 below the le\el of the planted 

 corm. 



There are about ninety species 

 of gladiolus known to botanists, 

 and the majority of these are 

 found in a wild state in South 

 Africa. But these natural species 

 are hardly ever now grown in 

 gardens, as they have been dis- 

 placed by hybrids. These hybrid 

 gladioli not only produce larger, 



moie numerous, and more 

 brighter coloured flowers, but 

 they are hardier in constitution 

 and the flowering period more 



extended than in the wild races 



from which they evolved under 



the controlling influence of the 



hybridiser. 



The most popular hybrid type 



is that known as Gm/idavensis 



or Ghent Gladiolus, of which an 



enormous number of varieties 



have been produced by nursery- 

 men. I cannot give the exact 



number, but there have been quite 



as many as three hundred named 



varieties offered from time to 



time. The flowers are of various 



shades and admixtures of white, 



cream, rose, crimson, yellow, 



orange, salmon-red, pink, purple. 



lilac, maroon, &c. Another well- 

 known type is Brenchleyensis. It 



is closely allied to Grajiciavensis, 



specimen grown by a successful exhibitor at Irish 



horticultural shows is here represented. 



The hybrid Childsii is very free flowering, the spike 



often breaking into three or four branches. For colour 



they are matchless. 



Another beautiful hybrid is that of the Colvillei type. 

 It is useful for massing in borders, 

 good for cut flowers and excellent 

 for indoor pot culture. The well- 

 known gladiolus The Bride is a 

 variety of this class. 



We notice that a writer in 

 Country Life recommends for 

 borders the planting of the large- 

 flowered, pure white phlox, Mrs. 

 Jenkins, with large-sized corms 

 of the scarlet-flowered gladiolus 

 Brenchleyensis inserted between 

 the phloxes. The exact spacing 

 suggested being phlox three feet 

 apart with gladiolus between, 

 keeping the latter nine inches 

 away from one another. This 

 will secure a very striking effect 

 from about the middle of August 

 until well on into September. A 

 top-dressing of manure will help 

 the plants considerably, while 

 frequent applications of liquid 

 manure (with a little soot added) 

 so soon as flower the buds appear 

 will contribute to an effective 

 display of bloom. 



Some growers plant the corms 

 entire, while others treat them 

 as gardeners frequently treat 

 potato sets. They cut them, 

 taking care of course to have 

 at least one "eye" or bud to 

 each set. To secure against 

 rotting or other mischance the 

 cut surface is covered with pow- 

 dered charcoal before planting. 



When the plants are lifted in 

 October each corm will show a 

 number of tiny corms, the whole 

 being known as " the spawn." 

 These should be removed and 

 stored until next April, when 

 they may be planted in drills. 

 They must not be allowed to 

 flower the flrst year, the object 

 being to induce them to form 

 well-stored corms. The corms 

 are, of course, lifted in the 

 autumn and planted out in the 

 following spring. They will 

 flower well the second year. In 

 planting gladioli, especially in 

 heavy soils, it will be necessary 

 to put a layer of sand about an 



Gladioli s " Hollandia. 



Handsome spiUeof the Summer- flowering (lladiolus 

 "HolUndia" of the Brenchleyensis type. Colour 

 a most delicate pink, inclined to pale primrose. 

 (Photographed from a specimen grown by Mr. 

 Jones in his Kilkenny Nursery.) 



but its flowers are earlier and not so heavy on the rachis, inch in depth along the bottom of the trench. The corms 

 therefore it is not so necessary to stake. A stately ^.re then pressed into the sand and covered with more 

 spike of this type of flower photographed from a sand. This will be of great benefll to the plants. 



