How to Care For Your Gladiolus Throughout the Year 
By George B. Burgess, Gladiolus Specialist 
Crossroad Gardens 
Windham Hill, South Windham, Maine 
WHEN RECEIVED 
Open package of bulbs at once and also 
open eacn inaividual bag so air will circu¬ 
late freely around the bulbs. Then store in 
a cool ary locaaon until ready to plant. A 
storage temperature of 40 to bo aegrees 
Fahienheit is ideal. Do not adow them to 
freeze. 
WHEN TO PLANT 
Plant when the trees, native to your lo¬ 
cality, are leafing out. Here in New Eng¬ 
land we can usually plant April 15th to 
o-uly 1st. Do not plant too early. The 
ground should be warmed up somewhat, if 
planted too early the bulbs will not be any 
further advanced than those planted two or 
three weeks later. 
WHERE TO PLANT 
Gladiolus enjoy full sunshine. The ideal 
place to plant them is in a garden where 
there are no trees, shrubs or anything to 
shade them or take the moisture from the 
ground. If planted in the border or beds 
on the lawn do not plant them too close to 
other strong growing plants or too close to 
the foundation of the house. 
KIND OF SOIL 
Glads will grow in any kind of soil from 
light sand to heavy clay, but a sandy loam 
is best. Be sure there is good drainage. 
PREPARATION OF SOIL 
Prepare your soil as you would for a fine 
crop of vegetables, it is best to manure it 
well in the tall with well rotted cow manure. 
If you manure in the spring be sure the 
manure is especially well rotted and spaded 
in deeply so that it will not touch the bulbs. 
A high grade commercial potato fertilizer 
is very good to use at planting time. Vigoro 
is also widely used. Mix it well into the 
rows under the bulbs, being absolutely sure 
that it does not touch the bulbs. 
DISTANCE APART 
If planting in beds you can place the 
bulbs six to eight inches apart. If you plant 
in rows you can place your bulbs two to six 
inches or more apart and make your rows 
18 to 30 inches apart, depending on the 
amount of space you have. It is best not to 
plant Glads back into the same soil more 
often than every third or fourth year. 
DEPTH TO PLANT 
Plant bulbs three to six inches deep. Shal¬ 
low nlantirg is said to give more bulblets 
but deep planting will make the plants 
stand up better and is to be preferred. Do 
not plant small bulbs more than three inches 
deep, bulblets two inches. 
HOW TO PLANT 
Set the bulbs in carefully, right side up. 
It is best to make successive plantings, say 
of every two weeks if you want a succession 
of bloom all season. After placing bulbs in 
hole or trench and covering them to the de¬ 
sired depth it is advisable to give them a 
thorough soaking if your soil is dry. It re¬ 
quires moisture to make them grow. Mark 
Liie beginning and end of eacn variety in 
the iow with a good label. The 10- or 12- 
inch wooden ones are very good. 
CULTIVATING 
Keep the soil around the plants in the 
rows stirred often and free from weeds as 
well as the soil between the rows. Culti¬ 
vate after a rain or watering and keep soil 
crust from forming. 
FERTILIZING 
Do not over-fertilize. Two or three 
LIGHT applications of a mixed commercial 
fertilizer such as prepared sheep manuie, 
Vigoro or a high grade potato fertilizer dur¬ 
ing the growing season are very beneficial. 
Spread on either side of the row and rake 
in, then water the soil well. Do not allow 
it to touch the foilage. Better keep it two 
or three inches away. 
WATERING 
Glads like a lot of water but will not 
stand wet feet. The drainage must be good. 
When you water do a good job of it and 
soak the soil thoroughly. Such a watering 
once a week should be sufficient. A light 
watering does more harm than good. 
CUTTING AND KEEPING BLOOM 
The Gladiolus is essentially a cut flower. 
Ordinarily they should be cut when the sec¬ 
ond or third bud opens. Cut with a sharp 
knife and a long slanting stroke so as not to 
injure the stem. Be sure and leave at least 
four good strong leaves on the plant to ma¬ 
ture the bulb for next year. The best time 
to cut is early in the morning. The blooms 
should then be put in cold water and taken 
to a cool shady room or cellar and allowed 
to stand for half a day or so before remov¬ 
ing to the living room. Every morning cut 
a little off the stem, change the water and 
remove the wilted blossoms. The flowers 
w'ill lest a long time if these suggestions 
are followed. 
(over) 
