Gladioli

[Bex]

I bought a pack of gladioli corms from wyevale a few weeks ago, £7 reduced to £2 bargain! Anyway low and behold they have poked through the soil, about 3 inches high. My question is, stupid I know but will these come up year after year and can I cut and put in a vase? Also will they spread at all? Sorry, first time flower grower.


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[roitelet]

They are good for cutting and may need some support as the get quite tall. They will come up every year if you are in a fairly mild region, but they will make lots of off sets which will come up like grass. I used to take mine out each year in the autumn remove all but the very largest off sets and replant in spring.

[Martin H]

I dig them up in the autumn, dry them off and store them in the shed. Then I can plant the big ones in batches from Easter onwards and sow the tiny cormlets thinly in rows to grow bigger.

They are hardy down here though, any I miss when digging up grow the next year anyway.

[BertieFox]

You will have to be very lucky and in a very sheltered spot if you want them to come back every year like daffodils or even tulips. This year our gladiolis are coming up again, but that is after an incredibly mild winter! I don't think I have ever seen it before in decades of gardening.

It's not just the cold that kills the tubers off, but the moisture and oscillating temperatures which will rot them. I guess Essex is drier than many other places.

As Martin H says above, the best way is to dig the tubers up in the autumn and store them carefully in a frost free place in semi dry compost or peat.

[Bex]

Thank you. I will dig them up in autumn. Good job I asked cos I would have left them lol


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[Jardiniere]

i leave some of mine in but like to dig up a few to get the cormlets, then save and put back.