The freshest of fresh salads – so easy

Picking leaves daily makes more room and if necessary some seedling can be thinned out. Plant a new container in two to three weeks ready to harvest when the first one is finished. blooms.

Plant 15cm apart and 8-10cm deep in a sunny place with good drainage. In flower borders, blooms make a bigger impact planted in groups among other plants rather than lined up in a row. However, gladioli are excellent cut flowers so can be grown in rows in a cutting garden or even the vege patch.

Tall varieties may need staking – either a stake per corm or a framework of stakes and string for a groups of plants to grow through. Keep evenly watered so the soil is just moist. Uneven watering can lead to bent spikes as the plants go through periods of slower and faster growth. Mulch to retain moisture and cut down on weeds. Don’t use animal manure or high nitrogen fertiliser.

For cut flowers, select stems which have only a couple of florets at the bottom starting to open. Cut the stem without crushing so it can take up water in the vase. Leave behind the foliage which will nourish the corm for next year’s flowers. Place cut stems in lukewarm water to prevent wilting.

Sap-sucking thrips can be a nuisance in hot, dry weather especially on plants stressed by lack of water. A blue sticky trap smeared with petroleum jelly will trap some but if numbers get out of control spraying might be needed.