Nancy cut the first gladioluses – gladioli? – of the season yesterday, brought them inside and they looked good.

Above is a photo from Cornell University, just in case you are unfamiliar with the flower.

Gladiolus is an unusual plant in that it really doesn't work very well in the landscape but is excellent as a cut flower. If you put them in a perennial bed you would have to replant around the roots of other plants every spring. I suppose they could work if you were bedding out with annuals.

We plant gladiolus in a row in the vegetable garden, with the intent of a summer harvest. You plant the bulbs in the spring, usually about mid-May, and usually we have blossoms before this.

We usually dig up the bulbs in the fall and store them in the cellar, but the stored bulbs don't seem to do as well as the ones we buy new.

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