A gardener's work is never done! We may be done pulling up the last of our flowers, and perhaps transplanting some plants that we want to bring in for the winter, but for those gardeners who plant glads, dahlias and begonias, there is still some work ahead. These plants give us beauty all summer, but they need some extra attention in the fall.
Gladiolus are one of those flowers that I always admire in other gardens. They are lovely when they finally bloom, and they are very architectural in the garden, with their spiky leaves (actually, gladiolus means "small sword" in Latin). But for many of us, the rewards of having them in the garden is overshadowed by the mystery of how to keep them over the winter. So today, let's chat about the glorious glad.
When I did my homework this week, I learned some interesting factoids about glads. First of all, when you and I are buying our bulbs, we should keep in mind that glads are classified by color, flower size, and when they bloom. Since our season can sometimes be shorter than we hope, we should look for the early or mid-season glads. There are thousands of choices for us, with every color under the rainbow! We should look for glad bulbs, called corms, that are plump, and at least an inch in diameter.
If it were spring, we could plant our corms in May, a couple weeks before we think the last frost will hit. This way, when the shoots emerge from the soil, they won't be shocked at the cold! I also read that we should not plant our glads in the same place for more than four years in a row.
Glads like a sunny spot in the garden, with well drained soil. Plant them about four inches deep, and water them in the growing season. We should take note that they need water where their roots are, not dribbling from above with a watering can. So we must give them a good drink. They'll appreciate a little fertilizer that is high in phosphorous (that's the second number in fertilizer listing), but use this carefully alongside, so you don't burn the roots. If we wanted to get a head start, we could start our corms indoors around the beginning of May: this will give the roots a chance to form before we carefully put them out in the garden. I also read this interesting bit of advice: to be sure that our glads bloom year after year, we should try to remove as few leaves as possible when we pick our blooms. Removing too many leaves will result in fewer and smaller flowers next year.
When fall comes and we want to bring our corms inside, we should wait until October when the frost has killed the foliage. Cut the tops off, close to the corm itself, and "cure" them for a week or ten days. "Curing" means that we give them a chance to dry out well, so spread them out on a tray in a dry, fairly warm spot, like in the garage or shed. Then we should peel off the dry shells, and then let them dry again for a few days. At this point, every gardener seems to have their own advice about what works best for storage. Some say to dust the corms with a fungicide, and then store them in a cool place indoors, spread out on a plant tray. Other gardeners have luck just tossing them in a paper bag and storing them where it is cool. And other gardeners say that if you can't follow these steps, just buy new corms in the spring and relax! So fellow gardeners, we have lots of options!
Good luck with the last of your garden tasks; I love the crisp beauty of this time of year! Have a great week and enjoy this next phase of your garden!
