Gladiolas propagation question

I understand about digging up glad bulbs in the fall, although mine have been in the ground 4 years and seem to be doing fine. (Should I leave well enough alone?) I know the older bulbs produce "bulbettes". My question is: after a flower blooms and dies off, are there seeds there, that can then be planted to grow more gladiolas?

Robin

Robin, I've never grown Glads before so I don't know the answer to your question ... there's a lot of hybrids out there that can be sterile, which may or may not be the case with yours. I do have a friend on the S'west forum who has grown them for years - if you haven't gotten an answer I'll gladly ask Susie, she's a gem.

I wouldn't bother dividing them unless you start to see a decline in flowers or see bulbs working their way out of the soil, just enjoy, enjoy!!!

Thanks, Pagancat! After I posted this question, I did read that glad flowers are sterile. (I try to find an answer before I post, but this info wasn't where I expected it to be) These aren't hybrids. I do need to work on making some stakes for next year, as these are getting 4' high.

Robin

Oh good, I'm glad you got your info.

4' high - man. Those are tall. Are they next to a structure/ fence at all?

I have them along a 2' high fence in front of the garden and they are leaning way over the fence now because they are so top-heavy. I aparrently lost a bunch while we were gone for 2 years (along with all my tulips and daylilies) because I use to have some that bloomed in 2 colors. Don't have any idea what kind they were, but they were gorgeous! I found them at Walmart 4 years ago.

Seems to me I saw some glad stakes somewhere a few ago, but don't remember where. They were just a metal pole (about as big around as a pencil) that curve into a loop at the top. Definately going to need some for these glads!

Pictures are always appreciated.... >smile< ...

Most of them are done blooming. If there are any blooms left tomorrow, I'll take some pictures. I can't find the picture I took a couple of weeks ago, when they were in full bloom. It"s somewhere on the computer.

I've read that the glads will grow a new bulb on top of the old. So, in time, it can become very shallow as the bulb dies and grows a new one over and over. So, maybe your bulbs are not as deep as they were when you planted them and are prone to eventually becoming bitten by freezing temps. This is what happened to my neighbors glads also. They also tend to flop over when they flower from being more shallow. She gave me a few and I got a bunch of babies under them. Maybe, you could dig up one or two and collect the bulbets? Just a thought. I got about 20 from each one she gave me. Andrea

Oh, and here's a pic... ;-)

Gorgeous!

That's the info I was thinking of- glad someone else has had the actual experience.

Thanks, I'll go out in a couple of days and start digging around a little.