THE GLADIOLUS.
In our climate there is no part of the garden more gay during the month of August and continuing often into September than the bed devoted to the Sword Lilies, as the Gladiolus is commonly called. Such has been the improvement wrought by skillful hybridization that we have now an almost endless variety of colors and markings, many of which are exceedingly beautiful. They are the offspring of two species, G. floribundus, which is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and was brought to England about the year 1788; and G. psittacinus, a native of Port Natal, from whence it was brought in 1829. The first hybrid was raised on the continent of Europe, and received the name of G. Gandavensis, from the town of Ghent. The hybrid variety has been found to cross freely with all other varieties and with some of the species, and to this we owe the many beautiful and showy varieties which we now possess.
There are many other species of Gladiolus than the two above named, some of which are hardy, while many of them are so tender as to require greenhouse culture. Johnson mentions in his Gardener’s Dictionary more than fifty different species and sub-species. These have been laid under contribution by those who have interested themselves in the improvement of this flower, and so far as has been found practicable, made to contribute to the beauty of our garden hybrids.
These garden varieties thrive best in a rich well drained loam; soils that are cold and wet are not suited to them. If one can command a good loamy soil, with a porous gravelly sub-soil, he may be sure of growing these beautiful flowers in their greatest perfection. However, such a soil is not by any means indispensable, the writer having grown them for many years with very good success where the sub-soil was a very firm sandy hard-pan. In preparing beds for the Gladiolus it is necessary to avoid all fresh, partially fermented or undecomposed manures, for these tend to produce disease in the bulbs, or properly speaking, corms. Thoroughly rotted cow-dung is the best manure for them. An excellent compost is formed by putting up a heap of sods in alternate layers with cow-dung, and when the sods have become rotten, mixing the heap thoroughly together. It is well to spade a good dressing of this into the bed intended for the Gladiolus in the fall, leaving the surface rough during winter, and then spading it again in the spring just before planting them out. In this way the manure becomes thoroughly mingled with the soil.
After the weather has become settled and danger of severe frost is past, the corms may be safely planted out, say ten inches apart each way, and four or five inches deep. Our seasons are often very dry, and when planted deep the Gladiolus do not suffer from the drouth as much as if set more shallow. If it is desired to keep up a succession of bloom, plantings may be made every fortnight until the middle of June. As soon as the plants appear above ground they will require to be carefully hoed and the ground loosened and stirred. This should be done occasionally during the growing season, in order to keep down the weeds and the ground loose, so that air and moisture may penetrate. Unless the plants are actually dying from drouth it is not desirable to water them.
As soon as the stalks and leaves turn yellow in the fall, or the frost has killed them, the corms should be taken up, spread in the sun and dried rapidly. The stalks should be cut off about an inch from the crown, the corms separated, the larger packed in a box with dry sand and stored in some cool dry place that is perfectly free from frost, and if it is desirable to multiply them as fast as possible, the little tiny bulblets that will be found at the base of the large ones may be saved, put up in paper bags and stored away where they will keep safely not only through the winter but also through the summer and the succeeding winter until another spring. If these little things are planted out the first spring, hardly one in a hundred will grow, but if they are kept over until the second spring not one in a thousand will fail to grow and form corms that will bloom the following summer.
Our climate is much better suited to the cultivation of the Gladiolus than that of Europe. The seedlings that are raised in America are much finer than theirs, and if our amateurs would turn their attention to the selection and hybridization of this flower, we would soon have a much better race than any that can be imported. If the seed be gathered and sown as soon as ripe it grows readily, and if one has a greenhouse may be kept growing, with short intervals of rest, and made to bloom in less than two years. The seed may be kept until spring, and sown in boxes by those who do not have the convenience of a greenhouse, and made to bloom the third year.
Except for those who make a specialty of this flower, there is nothing gained by purchasing named varieties at high prices. A dozen of mixed colors of very fine varieties, without name, can be purchased for one dollar, or a mixed dozen of those which have white ground color variously marked, or pink ground with different colored markings, can be had for a dollar and a half to two dollars per dozen. These massed in beds will give as much satisfaction to ordinary cultivators as the named sorts.
Some idea may be gained of the varied coloring of these flowers by reading the description of a few of the named sorts which is here given.
Achille; beautiful currant red, with a white stripe in the middle of each petal.
Antonius; cherry colored, slightly tinged with orange, blazed with carmine red, with very fine pure white stains.
Ceres; pure white, spotted with purplish rose.
Diomede; white, flamed with crimson, with dark carmine violet blotch.
Eldorado; clear yellow, the lower petals streaked with red.
Fulton; velvety vermillion, with bright purple blotch.
Horace; rich scarlet, large pure white blotch, feathered red.
Rosea Perfecta; fine rose tinted with violet, and white veins on all the petals.
Vesta; pure white, with purplish carmine blotch on yellow ground.
They are very useful as cut flowers for parlor or dining room decoration, for if the cut stalks be put in water all the unopened buds will blossom in succession as though they were yet united to the parent stem.
The accompanying engravings which we are enabled to place before our readers, through the courtesy of Mr. Jas. Vick, of Rochester, N. Y., give a good representation of the plants when in flower.
| VOL. I.] | DECEMBER, 1878. | [NO. 12. |