Clippings: go for gladioli

For a riot of blooming colour in your garden this summer, you can’t go past the hardy gladioli, writes Jackie French.

If a collection of ravens is a conspiracy and a group of magpies is a parliament, then it should be a gladness of gladioli. “Gladdies” have had a bad rap over the past few decades, put in the same class as Dame Edna’s rhinestone tiaras and purple perm. Yet gladdies are also one of the most gorgeous, hardy and reliable summer flowers, and there is a variety for every taste – from gaudy pink or mauve ruffles to “perfectly plain”, the small, wild gladioli that I love.

Galdioli can be planted in a spectacular hedge, scattered among other plants in a cottage garden, or even grown on a grassy bank, as ours are, and picked at Christmas time.

That is the magic of gladdies: you can tell them when to bloom. Most gladioli will flower 80-100 days after you plant them, (almost) guaranteeing a spectacular flowery garden whenever you need it to look its best for any planned festivities. Do check when you buy your gladdie corms (bulbs), though, in case some vary – especially the smaller varieties. And do allow that extra 20 days in case of a cold or hot/ dry spell, which may set your gladdie blooming back.

You can plant gladioli almost anywhere, as long as it is well-drained and sunny. You can almost plant them anytime, too. Just don’t plant when the ground is frozen or about to freeze – wait until frosts are over – or in the hot, scorching days of mid-summer. That still gives you a wide choice of planting times.

If you are a gladdie fanatic, you can arrange to have them blooming almost all year round with staggered plantings, though in cold areas, flowers will be nipped by frost and in the heat of mid-summer, the blooms may not last as long.

Plant your gladioli corms with the roots facing downwards, about 15cm-20cm apart, or 30cm for the larger varieties, and only down to about 10cm for the much smaller ones. The hole should be about twice as wide and deep as the corm.

Water well, then water at least once a week and feed once a month with a good fertiliser... or not. Ours live down the back paddock and I don’t do anything except pick them at Christmas time. Gladioli truly are wonderfully hardy.

And if you are yet to see a gladdie that you love, you haven’t seen enough gladdies. Find a bulb catalogue now and browse – you will be amazed at how varied, how colourful and how simply glad a garden filled with gladioli can be.