There is no specific plant thread for Glads. as far as I have seen, but I planted Gladiolus along the west wall of the house in a red/white/blue pattern and they are now putting out flower stalks.. but some have fallen over, and others seem to have taken their own idea of what is upwards. I am asking simply, what is the best way to stalk these plants upright so that I have a long line of flowers, without a huge eyesore holding them up. I was thinking perhaps a short fence all along the wall, or maybe 24" dowels 12" deep every 2' and a simple hempen string strung along the bases to keep them from falling over. They are after all backed 3" at most by a wall and siding. Did I plant the glads too shallow?
Gladiolus
i have tried them 3 or 4 times that is what happens never get flower so i quit on them..
Mine are pretty tall and aren't exactly "straight" - some are curved. But they are getting ready to bloom - I can see the color of the flowers and I think they will look great - even if they aren't standing straight up!
Well, they are still blooming, and here's my answer.... if they fall over, they end up being cut and put into vases all over the house... if they stand, they stay outside. It has been over 95 for over a week now.. My interest in working to keep them upright is gone. It is enough to keep the planters alive and not drooping.
Mike
my method won't work for you as yours were along a fence.
I plant between 5or 6 hundred every year. ( I adore them)
I plant about 7 inches deep so I don't have to dig all of them
in my zone 7 garden. I use the cheap tomato tree stakes (the round
dollar kind.) cut the small lower ring off and plant corms
then push down the stake . cut off its about 2 foot high and
glads will grow up around and through it. I usually plant something
in front that grows about a foot or so high to hide more of the
tomato stake. glads will sometinme get 5 foot tall here.
hope this helps
vikki
I'm with you Mike. I was out watering in the dark a couple nights this week. Water all the containers then give the hosta and beds enough to keep them from frying. I just cut the leaners and bring to work for my desk. You can buy those hoop stakes, but I never have. I put mine in pots as the soil here is clay. 75 today, 30 degrees cooler than yesterday, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Toto we ARE in Kansas!
I put stakes at each end and some in the middle, depending on how long your row is and run kite string around them. I used to plant deep, but it was a problem trying to dig them in the fall.
Mike, like this?
DD#4 bought me some glads for Mothers Day (and planted them). So far there are no buds on them. Friend about 20 miles north are blooming already. I have a micro zone in my front bed, its on the south & I'm not going to be digging them. The cannas survive there.
I like the dark green supports that Lowe's, etc. carry. They are available in several heights and sizes of the ring. They are made of one piece of plastic coated heavy steel rod that ends in a not quite completely closed circle on the top. Since they are green they don't stand out. But if you have a lot of tall spikes you might need one for each spike and that could get costly in the beginning.
I have to plant our bulbs of nearly every kind in pots or aqua baskets or the vermin will eat them every time. That makes lifting them in the fall easier tho. If I leave the top of the pot/basket just above the ground they are easy to locate and find the total edge of. Then I just dig in the pot or pull the pot out of the ground and dump it on a sheet of plastic. Pick out the bulbs, replace the pot in the hole, put the soil with some amendments back in and wait until next planting season.