The
picture denotes a Gladiolus gandavensis, rather
than one of the pretty cottage gladioli, which was originally
raised in a Belgian garden. A somewhat tender plant,
Hibberd nonetheless believed the gladiolus was "a
beauty to be wooed in the pleasant days of the after-summer".
To
grow them well in the Victorian garden required some
care. They were not hardy, and should not be left in
the garden through the winter. Hibberd stated he had
tried to do this many times but, while many roots survived
the ordeal, they were rendered useless by the experience.
Some Victorian gardening manuals advised planting the
roots out in February or March, but Hibberd believed
this unwise, for if the spring was wet and cold they
could rot in the ground, and their tender green tops
were liable to be cut off from the frosts of April and
May.
Hibberd
advised keeping the corms or roots in sand, in a cool,
dry place until the middle of march, then pot them singly
into thumb pots, or three-inch pots at the largest.
The compost for these pots should consist of equal parts
of mellow loam, leaf mould, very rotten hotbed soil,
and silver sand. Grit, or broken shards of pot, should
be placed in the bottom of the pots for drainage.
The
pots should then be packed in a frame,
or in a greenhouse,
given one watering, and left for a fortnight. By then
growth should be poking through, and the pots needed
light and air - a suitable space for them now would
be a cool greenhouse, or to continue in a well ventilated
frame. All keen winds and frosts should be kept at bay.
Once
grown on to the point where the roots threatened to
break out of the pots, the gladioli could be planted
out in an open, sunny but sheltered position in soil
that is deep and mellow, and rich in humus - heavy,
pasty or lumpy soil would not do at all. Gladioli could
also be grown on well in peat.
If
the weather was dry then they should be watered every
evening for a week.
The
gardener should not wait for the leaves to die down
completely before lifting the corms (as the leaves could
continue green until Christmas), but should lift them
when "there comes over the plantation a certain
yellowness".
Gladioli
could also be raised from seed. Seed could be planted
in shallow pans and placed in a moderate heat. When
the grass appears they should be given good air, and
then placed outside during the warm to allow them to
finish their growing season in the seed pans. The pans
should then be placed in a dry spot for the winter.
In the month of March following, the soil could be sifted
and the corms lifted, which could then be placed in
pans and treat them as described above. At the end of
May they could be planted into the garden.
