March 20, 
1909. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
189 
- The Culture of Gladioli. - 
The season has now come round for 
he planting of Gladioli in the open air, 
>ut as we write the ground is in a very 
tnfavourable condition for planting. 
Those who wish to get their Gladioli for¬ 
ward, or at least a batch of them, could 
ilant them in boxes of light rich soil with 
ome manure or'rough leaves in the bot- 
om. When the roots grow in this they 
nay be started with soil attached to them . 
it planting-out time. W hen started in 
joxes in this way they can be placed in 
1 greenhouse or in a heated house to start 
hem into growth. This has the result of 
iringing the plants into flower sooner, but 
0 ensure a sturdy growth it is necessary 
0 replant them in their flowering posi- 
ions some time towards the end of May. 
In speaking of planting Gladioli we re- 
er to such sections as the Gandavensis, 
Thildsii, Brenchleyensis, and Nancyanus 
ypes, which make the best growth when 
flanted in beds’ or borders in the open, 
n the accompanying sketch it will be 
ieen that two furrows are being taken out 
it 1 ft. apart and about 4 in. deep by a 
■pedal tool, the blade of which is shown 
n Fig. 2. This would ensure the fur- 
ows being of exact depth when the tool is 
nserted to its full capacity. Another 
new of the planted corms is showm at 
Tig. 3, where the corms are seen at the 
jottom of the deepest part of the furrow 
md about 1 ft. apart.’ This presumes 
hat the ground is to be- fully occupied 
,vith Gladioli. There are, however, other 
nethods of planting them. Single rows 
may’have the corms planted at 9 in. apart 
in the row. 
Gladioli are also suitable subjects for 
planting amongst Roses where the growers 
wish to have the ground covered with 
something else. They are suitable for 
the reason that the leaves are nearly up¬ 
right, and do not cast a shade upon the 
Roses. Others may desire to plant them 
in beds, either completely filling the bed 
with them, or planting them alternately 
with the Cape Hyacinth (Galtonia candi- 
cans) as the white and scarlet flowers pro¬ 
duce a fine effect by contrast. Others, 
again, plant them alternately with Dah¬ 
lias, and by using the more forward plants 
they can get bloom on the border in ad¬ 
vance of the Dahlias. 
Fig. 4 shows the furrows being filled in 
by means of a rake, and where a large 
quantity have to be planted, this is a con¬ 
venient and ready means of getting over 
the. work. In the case of large beds it 
could be done without much treading on 
the bed after planting is accomplished. A 
flowering conn is shown at Fig. 5, and 
those who have corms of various sizes 
should assort them into sizes, as the large 
ones would bloom in advance of the 
smaller ones, as the latter have to make 
good grorvth before they commence flower- 
ing. 
If it is intended to cut the flowers of 
the above for indoor decoration, they may 
be cut when only three or four of the 
lower flowers are open, and most of the 
others will open in -water. (Fig. 8.) 
There is another method of dealing with 
them, however. Those who grow for ex¬ 
hibition like to have ten or a dozen flowers 
open at the same time, and to ensure this 
they have small boxes open at the 
ends with a portion on one side covered 
with glass. After the first few flowers are 
open these cases are put over them and 
slid down till the glass portion allows the 
sunshine to reach the unopened buds. 
Below the glass portion the box consists 
of wood, and therefore shades the flowers 
that are already open. As the flowers 
thus exposed open under the influence of 
sunshine in the course of a few days, the 
boxes are let down still further so as to 
expose some more of the advancing buds. 
The boxes are, of course, fixed to a stake 
in the ground behind the corms. 
Those -who wish to grow Gladioli in pots 
will find the early flowering hybrids and 
varieties most suitable for this purpose, 
and, as they naturally flower earlier, they 
ean be brought to perfection in much 
smaller pots than the tall growing ones. 
G. Colvillei, G. C. alba, and G. C. deli- 
catissimus are good representatives of the 
type to w-hich w r e refer. Fig. 6 show r s.a 
single corm in a 5 in. pot, which rvould 
refer to the tall-growing types, but three 
to five of the early flowering kind may be 
inserted in such a pot about in. below 
the surface of the soil or just sufficient to 
allow the plant to make a good corm on 
the top of the old one. These early 
flowering types might have been potted 
some time ago, but it can still be done, 
and the pots placed in a cold frame, as 
shown in Fig. 7 till thev are on the point 
of flowering, -when they may be removed 
to a greenhouse or conservatory where 
the variety they furnish will be appre¬ 
ciated. They are altogether different 
from such things as Geraniums, Fuchsias, 
and Heliotropes, which are usually grown 
in such structures. 
Culture of Gladioli. 
