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:
Gladiolus Zorro
Gladiolus Plum Tart
Gladiolus Antica
I’m quite happy with the more common varieties such as:
or indeed the bright red
Gladiolus grandiflora ‘Oscar’ – or even the rather sugar sweet ‘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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