What other flower can compare with the gladiolus in beauty, variety of form 
and color, ease of culture and that gives the general all around satisfaction that 
the gladiolus does. In my opinion there is absolutely none. 
The florist business of the country could not get along without glads and 
there could be many more sold if the florists would give the public the opportunity 
to see many of the newer and better varieties instead of sticking to the old out of 
date kinds that are not only common but not beautiful by present day standards. 
Picardy is the most popular all around variety in existence but there is no 
excuse for florists forcing this variety on to the public to the exclusion of all other 
kinds. There can be too much of anything. 
Some growers think Picardy will not last more than two or three years longer 
as a commercial variety. This is all wrong. Picardy will continue to be the most 
popular commercial variety in existence until a better variety is produced and 
when a better variety does come along it will not be cheap for several years after 
introduction. 
Varieties that are going to cut into the 
popularity of Picardy are ALADDIN and 
SENSATION. Others that are going to be ex¬ 
tremely popular also are CARILLON and 
CAMELLIA. 
This year there is the opportunity of a 
lifetime to get into the cut flower growing 
business. Commercial varieties are the lowest 
in price ever known and will not be as cheap 
again for a long time. In many cases bulbs are 
being sold at cost of production or less in con¬ 
sequence of which there will not be so many 
grown next year and prices will have to be 
higher. There are countless places in the coun¬ 
try where glads can be grown for sale to local 
florists where the public has not seen the newer 
and better kinds and so the gladiolus in those 
places isn’t so popular as it should be. 
Many new varieties are being introduced 
every year but the really outstanding ones are 
as scarce as ever. This is partly because of the 
real scarcity of topnotchers and partly because 
of our more critical judgment and our better 
ideas of what constitutes real quality. 
I have never seen anything grow in a 
cement road. Glads are no exception. To pro¬ 
duce good blooms they must have some mois¬ 
ture. The soil can be very poor but with ferti¬ 
lizer and water good flowers can be produced. 
Extra large bulbs are not necessary. In 
fact usually the jumbo size bulbs sold in chain 
stores are bulbs that the growers have discard¬ 
ed as being past their best. Generally speaking 
a bulb two years old from bulblets is considered 
to be at its best though in some parts of the 
country large bulbs can be grown from bulb- 
lets in one season and are then as good as they 
ever will be. 
Many people ask if No. 5 or No. 6 bulbs will bloom. To the person accustomed 
to buying large bulbs these small ones look terribly small. Yet usually they will 
give a very good account of themselves. Occasionally a variety like Mammoth 
White does not bloom freely from small bulbs but in 99 cases out of 100 small 
bulbs will produce very nice bloom. 
“/ am enclosing photo of 6 spikes 
of Debonair which average 5 feet 1 
inch. Had three different plantings 
and are tall , straight stalks and no 
crooks in hottest weather. Consider 
it the best of my Palmer glads. I 
have now 22 varieties of his." 
—B. L. Brayman, Rhode Island 
G 
