THE PLAIN FACTS OF GLADIOLI CULTURE—THEIR THREE METHODS OF INCREASE—SUCCESSION PLANT¬ 
ING—THE TIME TO CUT BLOSSOMS—WINTER CARE OF CORMS 
The possibility of a fine seedling springing up at any time 
in your garden is one of the fascinating features of bulblet culture 
Stephen 
ERE is no reason why any gardener 
should not get results with gladioli, just 
as there is no reason why any garden 
should be without them. For the glad¬ 
iolus booms at that time when the gar¬ 
den needs brightening up—in those 
dusty, hot, midsummer weeks that come 
on the heels of spring freshness and 
prodigality and before the autumn re¬ 
vivification has set in, days when the 
perennial border is apt to look a bit 
seedy. Moreover, since they are to be 
had in a great variety of colors—rang¬ 
ing from scarlet and purple to white, 
rose and pure yellow—the gardener 
need have no fear of their clashing with 
the permanent plants. And they offer 
an added advantage in the fact that 
when cut they will keep over a week in 
water, a possibility appreciated by all lovers of flowers in the 
house. 
For those who have never grown gladioli, a word of explana¬ 
tion : they are increased in three ways—by natural division from 
the parent corm or bulb, by seed, or by the small corms growing at 
the base of the new corm. In the first instance all one does is to 
separate the corms from the original, either in the fall or when 
planting in the spring. 
Between the seed and the bloom is a stretch of three years. Seed 
should be planted thickly very early in drills in the open ground, 
rich, sandy soil being preferable. They should be shaded until 
the tiny plants appear, and not allowed to suffer in the least for 
lack of moisture. Carefully cultivated, these should produce a 
crop of corms each about the size of peas. Plant the corms the 
second season. Some will flower the first season; all should 
bloom the third, affording a great variety and possibly some new 
kinds. Growing from seed has one disadvantage apart from the 
trouble; however, desirable varieties are not invariably perpet¬ 
uated, whereas they are when grown from corms. 
Edsall 
The most feasible method, then, is to buy your corms, which 
are cheap enough except in the finest varieties. Buy from a 
reputable seed house and your probability of loss and consequent 
disappointment will be reduced to a minimum if you follow direc¬ 
tions. The first direction is to choose the right soil. Avoid a 
heavy, clay soil. They thrive in a light loam or sandy soil 
which is retentative of moisture, the ideal being a sod fall spaded 
or plowed, and then thoroughly worked over in the spring. Also 
avoid strong, fresh stable manure. If the soil lacks plant food, 
any commercial fertilizer thoroughly worked through will answer 
the purpose. Moreover, gladioli should have a new place every 
year, and always an open, sunny situation. Plant as early in the 
spring as the soil can be fitted, for late spring frosts do not pene¬ 
trate deep enough to harm the 
early planted corms. If a heavy 
frost happens along, a light cov¬ 
ering will forestall damage. 
With the first planting, do not 
use the largest bulbs; keep them 
for the second or third planting, 
as the larger bulbs withstand the 
dry heat of summer better than 
the smaller ones. This succes¬ 
sion of planting, with a two 
weeks’ interval between, may be 
continued profitably as late as in 
the middle of Tune, or even as 
late as July 4th, but the months of 
August and September, being 
notably hot and dry, the later 
plantings are more likely to be 
less luxuriant, unless moisture is 
plentifully supplied. For these 
later plantings it is not difficult to 
find places, as some early vege¬ 
table has been used by this time, 
leaving vacant spaces in the gar- 
(Continued on page 196 ) 
Although the more common way of 
winter storing is to strip the bulbs 
of their tops, some gardeners pre¬ 
fer to hang them up in this 
fashion 
T 57 
