The Gladiolus, also known as Gladiolus, is a beautiful, long stem full of flowers. This beautiful flower is very popular in flower arrangements and bouquets because of the variety of color and the beautiful long stems. In addition to bouquets and flower arrangements, you can also plant the gladiolus flower bulbs in your garden. We will tell you how to best care for them in this blog.
As we said, you can find the gladiolus in many different colors. This flower has been cultivated since 1841 and there are now about 300 different types. The gladiolus is originally from South Africa, so it loves the sun. However, the name does not come from this, but from the Latin word ''Gladius'', which means sword.
Gladioli are often used in flower arrangements, but you can also put them in your own garden (and possibly use the flowers yourself to make a beautiful bouquet! ). On our website we have two different categories of gladioli; the large-flowered gladiolus and the nanus, or the small-flowered gladiolus. Large-flowered gladioli can grow up to a meter long, while small-flowered gladioli can grow up to 70 cm long.
They love the sun and are happy with a sunny spot. Because the stems of the gladiolus can grow up to a meter high, it is wise to place them in a windless place. Make sure that the soil is well-draining, the water should not remain around the flower bulbs. Plant the bulbs about 7 to 10 cm deep and 10 cm apart. When planting, make sure that you place the flower bulbs in the ground with the point upwards. If the soil is not yet moist, give the bulbs a little water so that the roots can start! During flowering, keep an eye on whether the gladioli are not too dry and give extra water on hot summer days.
After flowering, you can leave the foliage until it has wilted. This helps the bulb to store nutrients. Gladioli are not winter hardy, which means they cannot tolerate frost. The bulbs should be dug up before the frost. This usually happens in October/November. After digging up the gladioli, let them dry for a few days in a warm, dry and well-ventilated space. Then store the flower bulbs in a dry, cool and well-ventilated space/container until the next planting season.
Gladioli are also perfect flowers for bouquets or in a vase! Are you going to put the gladioli in a vase indoors? Then use a long narrow vase, the gladioli will look best in that and will not fall over. You can also make a beautiful bouquet yourself by combining them with lilies , agapanthus, dahlias , ranunculus , roses, crocosmia and many more fun things! Pick the flowers when you see a little color on the flowers, otherwise they will not open properly. You can also add chrysal to the water to help the flowers.
Enthusiastic about gladioli and want to try it yourself? Check out our assortment here !
