Carol, I grow glads. I can not answer if it is too late for them to bloom because they are the first to bloom in a spring for me. I planted bulbs 2 years ago and never touched it again, they come back every year in spring and go during the summer.

Yes, I grow them, too - mine just finished blooming last week and are going dormant. They come back every spring. I cut off the brown foliage in the fall. I would say 'let mother nature do her thing'. They will multiply and bloom beautifully next spring.

I tried a few bulbs years ago, and the wind blew them over... do you prop them up some way? I stuck stakes in the ground next to them, but they never came up the next year....sally

Sally, I do not do anything to them, I just put a bamboo stick to hold it up.

Thanks for the help, everyone. I appreciate it.

Sally, I'm sorry yours didn't come back. You can pick up the bulbs pretty cheaply now on clearance (Walmart, Lowes) if you want to try again.

Carol

Hi
I found them a lot of fun to work with .You can stagger the plantings about two weeks apart and have them almost year around. The huge florist types were most rewarding.
I used 2x4 inch wire fencing kept at about a foot above the ground to hold them up. They also much appreciated enriched soil .For me they tended to go down hill after the first year in quality. but they are so cheap you can treat them as annuals . Mind boggling range of colors and forms . gary

Of the nine bulbs I planted last year, three came back. I did not touch them over the winter, so I guess only three wanted to see me again. :)

Will they bloom? They have strong, green healthy leaves so far, but no sign of blooming.

Carol in Jacksonville

Carol,

I picked up two 70 ct (or whatever) bags of them and I've planted one bag's worth so far. All my research told me they're not picky about blooming, that you can have blooms most of the year, so long as you stagger the dates of their planting.

Took less than a week to see healthy growth on them. They're sitting "dormant" right now, no more real growth, no flowers yet. I'm just gonna be patient and see what happens.

I read about the staggering, but didn't have time to fool around. So I planted mine all at the same time last June in full sun, 6" deep (as recommended) and in very good soil. I don't know why so many of them didn't come back. I hope you have better luck! I'm sure you will.

I didn't see that much sun in your wonderful photo of your back yard. Your back yard looked nice and shady. Are the glads planted in your side or front yard?

Carol

Haven't taken any 'good' photos, as I'm still trying to make my phone provide shots without so much glare.

Half my backyard receives full sun, the other half gets shade from 2 oaks. The Glads are split amongst two beds, both with a lot of sun til at least 4 o'clock.

I've heard Glads can handle most any condition. Like Amaryllis, these bulbs can survive really dry, unamended soil. That could mean a well-amended bed could be the death of them during their dormancy, due to bulb rot.

Glads are still new to me though, I can't guarantee I'm not making this up as I go! I've gotta take some photos later today. I'll be sure to snag some shots of my Glads and what kind of conditions they're dealing with.

Mike

I don't plant the hybrids, they are too prone to rot. But peacock glads and gladioulus dalenii are reliably perennial and can tolerate wet soil during dormancy. The peacock glads especially multiply rapidly too. I've got some to trade if anyone is interested.

A house I pass by regularly planted glads this year. They were glorious for a week. I wanted to drive by it repeatedly just to look at them. They even seemed to hold up on their own, without staking.
Then, after a week, they were not so glorious.For the limited effort, I could see them as annuals you plant as cut flowers. If I had owned the garden I kept passing, I would have cut every single one of them and brought them in the house. Glads last well in a vase.
I've tried them and had so-so results in 10B. Okay the first year, but should be treated as annuals down here.

Of the three that came back this year, one bolted, one did nothing and one gave me a gorgeous set of blooms!

Sun_worshiper, I never knew anything about gladiolus, including that hybrids were more difficult, so thanks for the explanation.

I pulled all three of the remaining plants and put something else in their spot. Now I know not to buy hybrid gladiolus bulbs, even on clearance. But boy, that one stalk of flowers was worth the fifty cents. Here's a quick picture I snapped before I took it over to my mother.

Mike, how did yours do? Have they started blooming yet? What color are they (or will they be)?

Carol

This post was edited by love_the_yard on Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 15:49

Carol,

I actually had to cut all of mine back. One of them was on the verge of flowering when I did it. I'd purchased the variety pack (general, not pastel).

I'm guessing i didn't plant the bulbs down far enough. The leaves/blades/whatever were falling all over the place, and some of them were starting to snap just above the bulb. Tried replanting deeper, but to no avail.

I don't know if they'll regrow leaves anytime soon. It's been two weeks, and I haven't seen any signs of new growth.

Bit of a shame, but I probably dodged a fairly inexpensive bullet. If the blades were already falling over, I can't imagine the mess the flower stalks would have made. I still have a 70 count package of them I haven't opened yet. Don't know what I'm going to do with them, maybe some pots.

Mike

I was thinking about it later... I wonder if the recommended planting depth of six inches or more is merely to keep the plants from falling over? When I read about them last year, I remember reading that most everyone planted them next to a fence and tied them up... or free-staked them in the yard. I never staked mine but then, I don't know what bloomed last year and only got one bloom this year.

Mike, I am so evil but I am laughing at thinking about having to plant 70 more bulbs at least six inches deep. I know what would happen to me - I would be digging and keep finding bulbs I already planted. Perhaps a raised bed where you can just toss down the bulbs and then put 6-8" of soil on top. :)

Carol

Oh shoot, I misused the terminology. I said that one plant "bolted". I thought that meant to run away (die). Not quite. It actually means to quickly go to flower and seed, stop producing leaves and then die. So no, I did not have a glad that bolted. It just died. :(

Carol

Carol,

Really not worth the effort at this point. I'll either wait until an opportunity (and space) present themselves, or I'll just eventually use some leftover pots and hide them in various beds.

Feel free to keep laughing. I'm masochistic enough to do the due diligence, just don't have the time lol.

Mike

Yep, I think the deep planting is to keep them from falling down. But even when I lived in the north, I remember glads were always staked.

Hey Angela
Thanks for the big pot of the Peacock Glads ! !
It's my lucky day. I just Googled Peacock Glads and boy - are they pretty.

When do you think they will bloom? Yesterday I divided them up into 6 smaller pots, so I hope that doesn't delay the flowers.

I can't wait!

Thanks again
Susie

Ok, so those of you who overwintered your glads after staggering the planting, did they come back and bloom all at once, or did the stay true to the staggered schedule?

cagoldbear -

Mine tend to bloom all within a month. No matter how far apart they are planted the year before. I also tend to lose a few each year so I replant them in the summer rather than spring to prolong the beauty....works out rather well for me.

Barbie~

I only had 3 or 4 that bloomed so far. I don't know why, I have about 15 of them. I did transplant them all into one area, wonder if that's why.

What a beautiful variety, Barbie!

Thanks! I am particularly fond of these, and I only have about 8 bulbs left so I may lift them and refrigerate to see if I can get them to throw duplicates next year... I'd LOVE to have more of them.

Barbie~

I live near Jacksonville, and I pulled up all the bulbs last fall. I kept them in a paper bag in the refrigerator all winter, and everyone of them came back better than the previous year when I planted them this spring. Now they are pretty much done but I will wait until they turn brown to pull them up again for next year.

I've grown them for years, they come back pretty good. But yes you need a stake somtimes, I usually order them , because I love green ones and striped ones,

I am dreaming of glads right now, I guess with all the rain we have had for the past month and recent storm it is a good thing I did not find any new builds to plant, I bet they would have rotted...

I don't know how glads do up here in N. FL, but I know there used to be a gladiolus farm in Bradenton. Of course, they replanted them every year from lab-grown specimens (sorry, the word for that escapes me right now). I tried growing them in 9b/10a, but they rotted in the ground over the summer and didn't come back out. Plus, I don't think we got enough cold for them to rebloom.

I have crocosmia now that I found tossed out by the dumpster. They're related, and I'm hoping they live through the winter. They do put out voluminous amounts of seeds, so I'll save some just in case.

Mine did great in the spring, but I will be surprised if any came back next year. That is ok, the cost of the bulbs are worth the flower regardless! Next year I will buy lots more and keep some to plant early fall to see how they do then too.

My glads have done very good.

Are the Gladioli bulbs sold locally? What is the best time to plant them?

Please answer. I just moved here from Maryland. Indu Modali

Glads are sold locally,but I got mine from Michigan bulb on line.at that time they where sold as a super Pac of 100 bulbs for 4.99 and I planted mine in February and I leave them in the ground year round they bloom great all spring

Indu, you can get the commoner varieties right at the big box stores in packs of usually a dozen or so. Smaller bags are available at dollar stores. The best time to plant them is in the fall so they can get established enough to come out and bloom in the spring or summer.

I was at the big box stores today and did not see any bulbs, I did not stop anyone to ask if they had any though so maybe they had them hidden. I am hoping soon they will get some in or I might just try online although some of the online places say out of stock try spring 2017 on the fancy kind.

I planted 8 corms this spring at the same time. They are doing well and are still producing blooms in July in Texas. My problem is that they all bloom at different times, so I have one flower at a time, even though I planted them at the same time. What happened?!