Content
- The gladiolus, a perennial blossom beauty
- Keep protected onions
- Storage in winter quarters
- Put gladiolus bulbs
- Tips
In order to enjoy the gladioli perennially, the bulbs must be dug up in the fall
The gladiolus, a perennial blossom beauty
Keep in mind the essentials of care, location and hibernation, so you can bring the attractive gladioli to flowering each year. However, the perennial flowering plant of the iris family is not winter proof, as it originates from regions where there are no soil frosts.
Keep protected onions
Simply leave the tubers in the ground in autumn, freeze the heat-loving gladiolus and will not germinate next year. If the first night frosts threaten, you must therefore shorten the gladioli to about ten centimeters and dig up. Be very careful, because the fine cuticles that surround the bulbs must not be damaged.
Consider the perennial onions exactly, because only firm bulbs without external damage are healthy. Immediately dispose of soft, putrid or pest-infested bulbs to prevent the other tubers from becoming infected.
Storage in winter quarters
Carefully remove the coarsest soil and allow the gladiolus bulbs to dry slightly. For this purpose, the onions are layered in a wooden box lined with newspaper and placed in a frost-free but cool room.
In order for the perennial bulbs to grow quickly next year, you should check them several times in the first few days for pest infestation. After that, you can overwinter the onions covered with a sand-earth mixture.
Put gladiolus bulbs
As soon as the outside temperature is above freezing at night, the gladioli are put into the bed. If you want flowering plants that are especially early in the morning, you can first plant the bulbs in a soil-filled flower pot for a few weeks. If you stretch the onions for a few weeks, you can extend the flowering season from summer to October.
Tips
If the gladiolus bulbs are to make long flower swords anew every year, it is important not to cut too many flowers. This weakens the plant even if you leave some leaves. The gladiolus needs flowers and foliage to store nutrients in the onion.