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Garden Guru: Glad for Gladiolus

There’s no accounting for taste but we do spend a lot of time efforts and words on it. Take gladioli for instance, I love them, they look fabulous in a vase and are generally excellent value for money, they’re easy to gro ...

There’s no accounting for taste but we do spend a lot of time efforts and words on it. Take gladioli for instance, I love them, they look fabulous in a vase and are generally excellent value for money, they’re easy to grow, always striking and are long lasting – and come in a wide choice of colours. Is Dame Edna responsible for their unfashionable status? Perhaps but there is also a rather snobbish attitude to their colours too. Sarah Raven suggests the following which are all lovely (bar Antica which I hate) but frankly a little dull:g espresso

Gladiolus Zorro

g plum tart

Gladiolus Plum Tart

Gladiolus_Antica_02629-700x700 (1)

Gladiolus Antica

I’m quite happy with the more common varieties such as:

g white prosperity

or indeed the bright red

g oscar

Gladiolus grandiflora ‘Oscar’ – or even the rather sugar sweet ‘Pink Parrot’.

g pink parrot

Happily there’s no law against pleasing oneself when it comes to colours. Whatever your choice, now is the time to plant. Plant them deep – 8 inches and around 6 inches apart (it doesn’t harm to put them on a bed of gravel if you have very sticky soil.) Try staggering the planting time – a few every week for the next three weeks or so and you will be rewarded with a longer flowering period. So, what’s your favourite colour?

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