EARLY GLADIOLUS OF QUALITY 
CHARLES E. F. GERSDORFF 
Seventy-odd Garden Varieties Selected for their Genuine 
Merit and Generous Early Bloom from Literally Hundreds 
Grown by the Author over a Period of Seven Years 
INHERE are two types of “early” Gladiolus. One com- 
pdses the Colvillei Hybrids or forcing type; the other, 
IflPil the early flowering varieties of the ordinary garden type, 
PPtP? and it is these with which we are now concerned. The 
Colvillei Hybrids are limited as to colors and varieties in com¬ 
parison with the garden forms; their flowers are smaller and of a 
different formation; they are not used to a very great extent in 
this country except in California, but are popular for greenhouse 
forcing in England. 
The early flowering garden forms may be had in a wide range 
of colors, shades, and combinations. Their flowers are as large 
and as fine as the later flowering ones, ranging in size up to six 
inches or more, and differing greatly in form. The earliest bloom 
in from 62 to 70 days after planting, with medium early kinds ap¬ 
pearing up to 80 days. 
The varieties described herein are rated of XXX and XXXX 
quality. These ratings were obtained by the author after ex¬ 
tensive tests with many hundreds of varieties during the last 
seven years. To any one living where the growing season is short, 
any or all of these should prove a revelation of beauty and, if 
grown commercially, a financial success. The figures given in the 
lists of varieties that follow show the number of days from plant¬ 
ing to a typical spike of bloom. The blooming periods thus in¬ 
dicated are not to be accepted as definitely fixed, however. 
Different seasons and climatic conditions undoubtedly will 
cause some variations. Too dry a season will often cause bloom 
to appear much later, as will even a season that is too wet, for 
flowers develop very slowly during an extended cloudy period. 
Not only the varieties just mentioned, but all of the midsea¬ 
son and late varieties may be coaxed into earlier bloom, dated 
from time planted out to blooming, by starting them indoors or 
under glass, in paper pots from one to three months in advance 
of the regular outdoor planting season. It must be remembered 
that the actual time from planting in pots to blooming outside 
will be practically the same as if they had been started outside, 
that is, the same as the approximate blooming time given in the 
description below. 
Such preliminary indoor culture does not require elaborate 
facilities. A room that is fairly light, admitting a little sunshine 
each day, medium in temperature and free from danger of freez¬ 
ing, and not too dry, will serve the purpose admirably. The 
pots should be kept sufficiently moist to insure steady, uniform 
growth, it may be necessary to occasionally spray the foliage 
for control of red spider, or aphis. When planting out, set pot 
and plant into the soil so that top of pot is from two to three 
inches below the surface, and cultivate, fertilize, etc., as you 
would a crop originally started outside. 
Whites and Blotched Whites.- — Henry C. Goehl (Fisher) is white, 
flushed with pink, and blotched with deep crimson; 72 days. Madame 
Mounet Sully from Lemoine is an ivory white that is sometimes blushed, 
and is blotched deep orange-red; 62 days. Mrs. IValter S. Brewster 
(Vaughan) white beautifully blended with blush pink and blotched 
brilliant scarlet; 76 days. In Queenly (Woodruff), a bloom of delicate 
beauty, pearly white with a faint lilac spot in its throat unfolds in 68 
days. Bertrex from Mrs. Austin shows a delicate blush-white bloom 
with rose and magenta marks in its throat in 75 days. Giant White 
from Kunderd, a white bearing a feather of crimson in the throat, and 
Hohenstauffen from Pfitzer, clear white with very large dark red throat 
blotches, require 77 days. Lilywhite (Kunderd) with smaller blooms 
has proved to be a profitable cutting variety, it is pure white, sometimes 
lightly blushed; 73 days. Kunderd also sent out Mary Pickford, of 
larger size than the preceding, a clear creamy white; 78 days. 
In a white with slight tintings of blush-white, Haage & Schmidt 
sent out a fine one in Weisse Dame or White Lady; 74 days. Spencer’s 
Zaidee, blooming in 73 days, is a white with yellow throat blotches 
bearing lavender strips. 1 1 is a beauty. Woodruff’s Orchid is white with 
brilliant blotches of red, requiring 75 days. In White America (Childs) 
a real “blue” white was given to Gladiolus fanciers. It is a pure white 
with slight tintings of blue in the throat, showing no creamy tinge 
at all, and is in bloom in 78 days. Christy 's-White Cloud is a fine white 
with maroon blotches; 74 days. 
Pale and Light Pinks.— Le Marechal Focb (Van Deursen) is surely 
a leader with its massive blooms, which develop in from 68 to 74 days, 
in color a delicate rosy pink, excellent for cutting. Kelway’s Prince of 
Wales in 77 days gives blooms of soft creamy pink which is suffused 
with salmon. Its color is quite variable, however, in different soils 
and seasons. In form entirely novel, nearly flat and circular, Liss (by 
Velthuys) requiring 73 days, has a refreshing color all its own, a clear, 
light rose pink. Umpleby’s Mrs. A. C. Beal is a creamy pink blooming 
in 70 days. Kundred’s Mrs. Frank Pendleton in 75 days shows blooms 
of a rosy flesh blotched with carmine. Mary Stewart (DeGroat) is a 
delicate textured creamy pink which blooms in 67 days. Arbutus for 
delicate beauty will be hard to beat. Coleman is the originator. It is 
a pale pink suggesting the flower for which it is named, and attains 
perfection in 77 days. The Detroit (Vaughan), light pink in color, 
often penciled on its edges with light crimson, and with sulphur yellow 
throat blotched with carmine, blooms in 74 days. Minnesota (Ruff) 
is an old variety, which for beauty and quality will be hard to excel. 
It is another creamy pink, flowering in 72 days. Kunderd’s Anthony B. 
Kunderd is a ruffled beauty which comes into perfection in 77 days, a 
beautiful blend of white, pink, and yellow. Pink Perfection from Hop- 
man blooms in 73 days, in color an apple-blossom pink. To some its 
tendency to make curved stems is objectionable. But, I think, unless 
it is too pronounced, such curvature lends to more artistic arrangement 
of the cut spikes. Excelsior is a clear pink with scarlet blotch, sent 
out by C. Zeestraten, and blooming in 68 days. 
Salmon Pinks.—A Gladiolus that is different is Doris (Brown), 
white suffused with salmon flesh, with distinctly deeper line through 
the centres of each petal, and yellowish throat;72 days. Woodruff’s 
Frilled Pink is that tone of salmon known as peach-pink, the blooms 
are ruffled and appear in 76 days. Cowee’s Peachhlow is also a peach- 
pink of different form, with lavender or lilac tintings in the throat; 72 
days. Dorothy McKibbin blends from peach-pink to a rosy salmon edge 
with brown markings and rosy magenta throat; 75 days. This ruffled 
beauty was sent out by McKibbin. Pfitzer’s Koenigin Wilhelmina, 
generally listed as Queen Wilhelmina, carries a dear salmon pink 
bloom with cherry red blotches; 71 days. Halley (Velthuys), which at¬ 
tains its perfection in from 65 to 70 days, is a clear salmon pink, and a 
superlative cut flower. 
Salmon Reds.— A. W. Hunt (Christy) flowers in 69 days. In color 
it is a rich salmon rose blended with carmine, with line of rich yellow 
in the lower petals. Coleman’s Night Wings, in flower 77 days after 
planting, is a dear salmon scarlet with scarlet to salmon-red blotches. 
It is beautiful and fine for cutting. 
Orange Shades.— Blooming in 76 days, Charlemagne (Lemoine) 
may best be described by the general color term of sunset-red shades. 
Kunderd’s Orange Glory is a ruffled beauty of an orange vermilion color, 
with orange scarlet blotches; 79 days. From Holland comes Orange 
Brilliant (not the Primulinus Hybrid of that name), true to its name, 
with its flowers which attain perfection in 77 days. It is of an apricot 
orange shade. Diener’s Tamalpais blends from deep salmon orange 
to a lemon yellow and buff throat, the latter being blotched a light 
crimson-scarlet; 76 days. 
Scarlets. —Resembling a fine Amaryllis, giving flowers in 68 days, 
Fireking, from Childs is a wonder, it is a fiery scarlet-vermilion. Early 
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