CHAPTER IX. 
GLADIOLUS. 
— 
RE is pothing in the whole list of 
bulbous flowers more important 
than the Gladiolus. It is certainly 
a grand and beautiful flower, and 
so easily grown that any soil will 
suit it—the heaviest clay or pure 
sand—and the conditions must be 
hard indeed under which it will 
not thrive. The colors range from 
pure white to dark crimson, with all intermediate shades 
of yellows, reds, pinks, purples, etc., with an almost end- 
less variety of stripes and markings. For cutting for 
house decoration the flowers are especially valuable, for 
if the spikes are cut when the flowers first begin to open, 
and placed in water, the buds will open beautifully and 
will last for ten days. By planting some bulbs at inter- 
vals of two weeks from March Ist until August, a regular 
succession of flowers may be had until late in October. 
About the Ist of November the bulbs should be taken 
up, and after the tops have been cut off, stored away in 
any cool, dry place secure from frost, where they can 
remain without further care until planting time. The 
Gladiolus may be grown among shrubbery where it is 
