Last Sunday Gladiolus were weeping in honour the passing of the Aussie icon that made the Gladiolus a household name around the world.
It was so sad to hear of the death of the great Australian comic Barry Humphries.
His alter ego Dame Edna Everage became an international star and was rarely photographed without clutching a bunch of her favourite flowers, the Gladiolus, before tossing them to her audience after a stage performance.
The Gladioli would be one of the best known plants in Australia.
It is a part of a group of ornamental perennial flowering plants in the Iris family. These plants grow from a corm, which is a thick underground stem that stores food and resembles a flattened bulb. Though most gardeners still refer to the corm as the Gladioli Bulb.
Gladiolus are best known for producing some of the world’s most prized perennial flowers.
Naturally Gladiolus are very slender plants so planting in clusters will enhance the flowering display. Gladioli are perfect to be grown in clusters or individually spread throughout the beds. They are great companions with perennial plants like as Daisies, Lilies and annuals like Salvias.
The tall brightly coloured Gladioli have been favourites in Central Queensland gardens for over 100 years. These tall Gladioli can reach a height of up to 2m high. Always providing a beautiful display and when in a vase inside the display is just as impressive.
In recent years a number of dwarf Gladioli hybrids have become available. These compact hybrids will only grow up to a 1m high and are suitable for smaller gardens or growing in pots.
Gladioli are available in just about every colour and shade and even multicolour varieties. These colours come in anything from the traditional white and red through to coral, musk and hot pinks, tangerine, lemon, plum and deep purple.
The flowers are typically arranged on only one side of the stem and open in succession from the bottom up, with the largest flower at the base. Some hybrids the flower petals can be frilly others can be ruffled or semi-ruffled adding a contrast to the plain petals.
The flower size of the Gladioli flowers can change depending on the hybrid. The largest individual flower I have ever seen was over 10cm in diameter and the smallest and the miniature flowering hybrids whose flowers are just over 5cm in diameter.
Our family spent a week in Cania Gorge between Christmas and New Year. We also went into the neighbouring town of Monto and to my surprise was the number of gardens in the town that had gardens with Gladiolus in full flower.
There was also a mix of new hybrid Gladiolus as well as numerous heirloom Gladiolus. Inquiring about the plants I was told that after each flowering season had finished many of the gardeners of Monto would dig up the Gladioli Bulbs for storage.
The process would include digging the bulbs up, washing the bulbs, placing the bulbs in old Onion bags then storing in a dry place away from vermin. So the gardeners could start the whole process over again next season.
I asked if I could have a few recommended Gladiolus to start a garden in Central Queensland.
– Gladioli Apricot Dream – Apricot flowers with pale yellow centres.
– Gladioli Candyman – Deep pink flowers.
– Gladioli CWA 1956 – Bright orange flowers.
– Gladioli Dreams End – Light orange flowers with large yellow centres.
– Gladioli Monto Hospital – Bright yellow ruffled flowers with bright orange edges.
– Gladioli Purple Flora – Dark purple flowers.
– Gladioli Sunset Splash – Pale yellow flowers with bright orange throat.
– Gladioli Tambo Pink – Large pink flowers.
When planting Gladioli Bulbs space the bulbs about 8-15cm apart and plant the Gladioli Bulbs about 10-15cm deep with the pointed end facing upwards. By planting the Gladioli Bulbs deeply it will reduce the need for staking.
Gladioli prefer a sunny well drained position and will not tolerate wet feet. Add a layer of mulch over the soil to keep the soil moist always but not saturated.
From the planting of the Gladioli Bulb to flowering it should take between 90-120cm days depending on the weather. Once the Gladioli starts to flower you need to make sure the soil around the Gladiolus is kept moist.
