FALL OR HOLLAND BULBS, ETC. 57 



GLADIOLUS. 



i 



There is perhaps no bulb that is so satisfactory or so 

 easily cultivated as the Gladiolus; no other bulb embraces 

 such a variation of color, comprising nearly every shade 

 except blue. With the simplest culture there is an abso- 

 lute certainty that they will flower, provided they are 

 planted in fairly good soil and where they will not be 

 shaded. 



Time to Plant. During the winter, Gladiolus bulbs, 

 whether large or small, should be kept in a dry, cool 

 cellar. As the bulb is nearly hardy, plantings may be 

 made as soon as the ground is fit to work in spring ; 

 and even should the ground be slightly frozen after, 

 they will sustain no injury. 



Bulbs set out during April will be usually at their best 

 flowering in August, but "succession plantings" may be 

 made every ten days until the middle of July, which will 

 give a succession of bloom the entire season. It is a 

 common practice, with the New York florists, to reserve 

 Gladiolus bulbs until August, which are then planted in 

 boxes four or five inches deep, in rich soil. The boxes 

 are kept out-doors until frost, when they are placed in a 

 cool greenhouse, where they flower in November, at a 

 time when everything is done outside. 



Whether planted in the open ground or in boxes for 

 forcing, they should be set at from six to seven inches 

 apart, and about two to three inches deep, that is, so that 

 the top of the bulb will be covered an inch or an inch 

 and a half. 



Gladiolus are admirably suited for cnt-flower work, as 

 they will keep for eight or ten days, and the unexpanded 

 buds, if showing color, will develop fully when the stem 

 is cut and placed in water. In addition to the fine hy- 

 brid varieties long in cultivation, M. Lemoine, of France, 

 in 1884 succeeded in producing a new class, entirely 



