or 4 weeks before we may expect the last hard 
frost, which means late April or early May. 
We continue till June 15. Glads need about 3 
months growing season. Sometimes our late 
planted ones don't get to bloom if we have an 
early fall frost. If you plant them over a long 
period you will have blooms so much longer. 
In Florida they plant from early fall till Feb. 
or March. Ask local growers when to plant in 
your locality. 
Where to plant 
The ideal place is in nice mellow soil by them- 
selves or in a vegetable garden. But don’t plant 
near beans as ‘‘bean mosaic”’ a disease that spots 
the blooms and ruins the bulbs or the beans is 
often carried from one to the other by insects. 
Plant in a single row putting the bulbs 3 or 4 
inches apart or in a double staggered row with 
the main row 30 to 36 inches apart or closer if 
necessary. You can plant in a low perennial 
border or among small shrubs but not near 
anything that will shade the plants after they 
get a foot high. 
Fertilizer 
About the first question a beginner asks is 
“what fertilizer to use.’’ Fertilizer is less im- 
portant than plenty of water, tho glads must 
have good drainage. The best way is to get 
your soil built up in previous years. Yet I have 
grown the most wonderful spikes on poor sand 
with very little fertilizer, but plenty of water. 
Some use ground bone or other fertilizer in the 
trench before planting, so deep the bulbs will 
not touch it. Some sidedress during the grow- 
ing season. Go easy with fertilizer, especially 
nitrogen. 
Blooming Dates 
Blooming dates where a definite number of 
days to bloom is given may be very misleading. 
They vary tremendously in different parts of the 
country and with early or late planting and with 
various other conditions. Furthermore many 
varieties will bloom over a period of 3 to 4 weeks 
or more. (The best anyone can do is to tell if a 
variety in general is early, midseason or late, very 
early or late as the catalog does). 
Number of blooms open 
This varies tremendously under different 
weather and climatic conditions. Glads will 
usually open more at a time in cool weather and 
sometimes will vary from year to year. Some- 
times I can get only 5-6 open on a certain 
variety while others have no trouble getting 8 
or more. I think catalog descriptions usually 
give the ultimate number a variety will open, 
but not always. Under good conditions that 
the variety likes, it will no doubt open as many 
as the cataloger says it will or even more. 
62 
How to increase stock 
Glads naturally increase by bulblets that 
grow around the bottom of the bulbs. Plant 
these and in 2 years you should have large or 
medium bulbs from them. Old bulbs and 
certain varieties split and so increase in that 
way. But by increasing them from bulblets 
you have young stock coming along. Some- 
times bulblets will bloom the first year but not 
unless they have good growing conditions. 
What is a sport? 
A sport in glads is one that suddenly blooms 
another color, usually a lighter one than the 
original tho sometimes darker. It can sport in 
other characteristics, but usually it is only in 
color or shade. Sometimes these sports revert 
to the original color (especially the white sports 
of Picardy) but when a white Picardy like 
Leading Lady reverts, the revert is a better and 
healthier Picardy. 
Do gladiolus change color? 
Positively NO, except in the very unusual 
case of a sport. No matter what anyone tells 
you they do not change in wholesale quanti- 
ties. What happens is that some varieties are 
strong propagators and others rather weak, so 
the first you know some have passed out and 
you have only the strong ones left. 
Why do glads have crooked stems? 
Usually it is a variety characteristic. Then 
again it may be very hot weather when they 
wilt and may not be able to straighten up again. 
Or it may be too much nitrogenous fertilizer. 
Shallow planting may cause them to crook or 
bend over. Too much rain followed by hot 
weather will often crook them. 
How long is a bulb good for? 
It depends on variety and conditions. Under 
good culture some varieties will be past their 
best when 3 years old from bulblets, while 
others will produce good bloom for several years. 
A bulb 2 years from a bulblet is generally con- 
sidered at its best. 
Identification of blooms 
Every year I receive many blooms for 
identification that are either rotten or dried up. 
Do not send open blooms, as they are nearly 
always rotten and have lost color. If you will 
send a good part of a spike in rather tight bud, 
at will probably reach me in condition so I can 
tell what it is if I know the variety. Do not 
put anything wet around them unless weather 
1s cool. It is not needed at any time. I f you can 
ship by air, so much the better, as mail service 
now 1s often very slow. 
However if you are shipping a long dis- 
