Penny, that's awesome!!! I don't see why glads wouldn't do that, although I haven't experinced it myself firsthand.

Tara, I had never experienced it before this year eiter. They have multiplied but stayed with the main plant. I supposed the little bulbletts could have been disturbed last year when I was planting things but generally I leave that back area alone.

Penny

I am so happy to hear that you leave your gladiolas in the ground over the winter. I was told that they were not hardy enough for NY winters and needed to be dug up! This means a lot less work for me if it's true. What do the rest of you know about overwintering them in NY?

smh78
As I mentioned in my initial post, they have been in the ground on the west side of the house for 9 yrs. I imagine having them close to the house has helped. I grew up down south and we never dug up anything so when I planted the glads I just assumed they could stay in the ground here too.

Penny

Could yours be hardy glads? I dig my glads every year; Always have. Don't think they'd make it through if I didn't dig although the little bulblets that form around base of the large bulbs will often over winter. I remove these small bulbs when I dig glads and put them in a container. When I plant my glads next spring I'll dig a shallow trench to plant the bulblets in. They'll come up and grow. Some eventually get big enough after a few years to bloom. I've got 80 glads growing in yard from original planting of 25.

Aurore,
I don't think mine are the hardy glads they were very cheap. I think there were about a dozen in a bag for less than 5 dollars.

Penny

Usually my big bulbs turn to mush if I don't dig. There are some people around here who don't dig their bulbs and they come up each year. Usually I'll start talking to them about digging their glads and they'll just look at me and ask, "Dig? I was supposed to dig?".
Hey, What ever works!

Have mine in the ground forever too not even against the house and they come up every year.

I've had glads in the ground here in the mid-Hudson Valley -- never dug up -- for about 10 years. I've lost a few each year, some bloom every year, and some have done what you described: produced baby glad bulblets. Usually when this happens, the parent bulb has died off and the babies are all that remains.

Wow, I can't believe so many of you have had glads come back. I left some in the ground this past winter to see, and none of mine came up. Also left some in big pots and brought into a sheltered location. None of those came back either.

Tracy

Well I have let the little ones just continue to pop up here and there. Maybe one day they will grow up to be big bloomin' glads.

Penny

I planted Glad bulbs last year and most bloomed. I left them in the ground and low and behold babies popped up everywhere this spring! I was wondering if I should leave them alone or split them?....will taking them away from the parent bulb kill the parent?

The few glads I have left in the ground have not come back, so I just keep them in pots that go in a cool (40 degree) building for the winter. The ones in the pots do make babies. This year I am thinking of planting them around my Basjoo Banana, since that gets heavily mulched for winter. Maybe they will survive over the winter in the area around the Banana mat.

-Rosalinda

Sue
I leave them where they pop up and let them grow for a couple of year and then transplant the babies or pass them along. I don't think the parent bulbs have ever died offr.

Rosalinda,
I don't even have mulch on the bed where mine are growing. My soil in that bed may drain a little better and that could be why they come back every year. I think this is year 12 now.