224 
GLADIOLUS INSIGNIS. 
The great fault, however, in the cultivation of Gladioli, and that which renders 
their character at all dubious, has, we believe, been before noted in this magazine, 
and may here be adverted to. It is their confinement in pots throughout the 
entire year, when they should be planted in the open border in the finer part of it. 
On this point, and with especial regard to G. insignis^ Messrs. Lucombe, Pince, and 
Co. write as follows : — " It is one of the very finest hybrids that we are acquainted 
with. It flowers profusely when planted out in a bed composed of two-thirds 
sandy heath-soil, and the rest rich loam. "We would advise the potting of the 
bulbs early in November, keeping them in a cold frame during winter, and plant- 
ing them out for flowering in May. Treated thus, Gladiolus insignis is one of the 
greatest ornaments of the flower-garden in the months of June, July, and August." 
To these comprehensive remarks, it would be superfluous to append further 
directions. Still we may be permitted to observe, that where the fashion of filling 
the beds of the flower-garden with choice exotic plants is followed, it will be a 
rather new and doubtless a most interesting feature to introduce a clump of 
Gladioli, which, from the treatment they demand, and their well-known habit of 
withering after the flowers have all been opened, are exceedingly well fitted for 
such an object. Should the weather which ensues directly upon their blooming 
period be very damp, and unfavourable for the maturation of their corms, they 
may, with great propriety, be shifted into pots, which will accelerate the decay of 
their leaves and stalks, and also leave the bed they occupied vacant for some other 
later flowering plant. 
If a compartment in the flower-garden cannot conveniently be set apart for 
these plants, the best situation for them is in the border fronting a greenhouse, 
conservatory, or any other structure with an aspect inclining to south, particularly 
if that border should happen to be a rather narrow one. In any case the soil of 
the bed or border in which they are grown should be rather elevated, as they 
cannot endure much moisture in the autumn. They propagate themselves by 
ofisets, which have only to be detached and planted separately at the time of their 
annual removal 
