Gladioli

Dear Stan;

I enjoy your show; from the difficulty in "getting through" it looks like many many others find your advice valuable. My question: I have some gladioli that produced some terrific blooms till the frost knocked them back. When and what do I do with them to secure them for winter?

Thanks

Fred

Fred - Glads can easily be saved through the winter with a few late fall procedures: let the remaining foliage go through a mild few days of frost, then dig the corms with as much of the soil clinging to them, and lay them out on the ground to partially cure and ripen off. This should take about a week after digging, so cover them with a sack or layers of cloth so frost damage will retard the keeping qualities. Do not pull or cut any of the top growth. Have ready a wood or cardboard box to stand the corms on 3" of dry peat moss or shavings. When the glads are settled in, add 2" of the mulch around each corm and store in a cellar-cool room with very low light. The corms will keep until mid January. Check that the corms are solid and if the brown foliage comes away from the corm, called an abscission, remove it and sprinkle a bit of water onto the mulch to carry the corms to March.