40 
House & Garden 
t 
Gladioli are admirably adapted 
to border planting along walks. 
Here they are combined with 
the showy heads of Sedum 
spectabile 
than the gladiolus the midsummer 
raggedness of peonies or lupines or 
for that matter of almost any peren¬ 
nial which has bloomed valiantly in 
the early summer, and needs a period 
of recuperation before it begins to 
spruce up again in the fall. A few 
bulbs slipped in around these peren¬ 
nials while they still look well, will 
come up and bloom about the time 
the latter begin to be fringy, and 
because the gladiolus is tall and 
straight and has few leaves, it does 
not take up enough space to hinder 
the growth of the perennials. 
Before planting gladioli in this 
way, one must look over one’s plans 
and recall what is to be blooming in 
the garden at the time the bulbs come 
into flower, and choose varieties ac¬ 
cordingly. If the garden will be 
running to rosy pinks and purples, 
as so often happens with midsummer 
borders, then the flame-colored, red, 
deep salmon and orange gladioli 
must be avoided. The soft pinks of 
America, Glory of Holland and Pa¬ 
nama are safe; in fact, these three 
with the dark purple of Baron Hulot 
as an accent are a fine pinky com¬ 
bination, with no yellow or red tinge 
to disturb the peace of a rose and 
(Continued on page 70), 
A red brick wall laced with ivy 
forms an excellent color back¬ 
ground for a planting of glad¬ 
ioli in cream, pale buff and 
white shades 
T HE journey from Nile Land, 
Lower Guinea and Mozam¬ 
bique to Indiana is long, and 
the descent from Mt. Kenia to Ips¬ 
wich a sharp one, but such changes 
of habitat for the adaptable gladio¬ 
lus, whose parents hail from Abys¬ 
sinia and the South Coast of Africa 
as well as from Asia, are of no con¬ 
sequence. It will make itself at 
home in a Chicago vacant lot with 
the same ease with which it deco¬ 
rates a Newport garden, and no more 
obliging flower accepts our neglect 
or rewards our trouble than the gla¬ 
diolus; moreover, none spreads out 
a gayer or more varied palette for 
the gardener’s choice. On it he may 
find strong, bright hues or subtle, 
delicate shades to complete any color 
combination he is striving to create, 
for there are gladioli to companion 
any flower that blooms—that is, that 
blooms after the middle of June. 
It is about six weeks from the date 
when the bulbs are set out to the 
time they flower, and by planting 
them at intervals as soon as the frost 
is out of the ground until the first of 
July, their correct appearance can be 
regulated. They are for this reason 
the very best of fillers-in, or of emer¬ 
gency crops. Nothing hides better 
THE GLADIOLUS, A SUPER¬ 
FLOWER FROM AFRICA 
RUTH DEAN 
