Description of gladiolus in artistic style. Gladiolus: types and varieties, planting and care, photo. Gladiolus in landscape design

Gladiolus- can rightfully be called a royal flower, an indispensable decoration for any garden. Looking at his proud, stately appearance, the most diverse abundance and colors.

Like no one else deserves attention and respectful treatment. It is impossible to take your eyes off the flower bed with gladiolus flowers, and everyone who has ever seen it will not remain indifferent.

The homeland of gladioli is the African and Asian continent. Its name, translated from Latin, means - a small sword. About the legends, about two friends of gladiators.

In the photo, gladiolus is tiled

They were put to fight against each other. Refusing to fight, plunging their swords into the ground, they were executed. And in place of the weapon, unearthly beauty grew - gladioli. In ancient Rome, amulets were made from the roots of the gladiolus, believing in its power.

They also baked cakes from them, adding flour. And in Europe, after the African expedition, the gladiolus was already in the 18th century. The result of long breeding work did not pass without a trace. About two hundred species of these were bred, and almost five thousand of their varieties.

Description and features of gladioli

This one belongs to the Iris family. It is a perennial, bulbous, with long, green, pointed leaves at the ends, growing from the root, 40-80 centimeters long. Its stem is straight and dense. It grows one and a half - meter in height, with inflorescences in the form of a spikelet.

On one stem, in its upper half, there are up to twenty flowers. The flower spike grows half a meter long, the density on it can be very dense, or it can be rare.

The flowers themselves are of different sizes, small - from five centimeters and giants - up to 15 centimeters. They grow in the form of a funnel, with petals beautifully curved outwards.

They are of the usual form, or at the tips with thin thick teeth. gladiolus flowers a variety of colors - snow white, beige, light yellow, light green.

In the photo, gladiolus is red

In pink tones from pale orange, cyclamen, coral to rich red, burgundy. Light lilac, blue, purple. Looking in the photo of gladioli, you can see that only one is monophonic, or contain two or three shades, beautifully distributed over the petals.

Planting and propagation of gladioli

Gladiolus is a perennial, but since it is thermophilic, it does not tolerate Russian winters and frosts. Therefore, every year the tubers are dug up, and planted in the spring.

If you have been breeding these for the first year, it is very important to purchase high-quality planting materials. Buy gladioli won't be difficult. A lot of them are sold in specialized flower shops, in the market.

Experienced flower growers also have a huge number of different varieties. In the future, already next year, babies will appear on the acquired tubers, and you will have your own grown tubers.

Buying gladiolus bulbs, inspect them carefully. They should be relatively the same size: medium or large, fairly firm. With a smooth, undamaged surface, uniform color.

There should be a lot of root tubercles on the bulbs. This is a good sign that the flower will endure any climatic changes, will be quite strong and healthy. To meet your standards, which is very important in the work of landscape designers and compilers of flower arrangements and flower arrangements.

In the photo, gladiolus burgundy

Now you need to decide on the age of the purchased bulb. The most sought after are the young. Which are already a year old, two each, grown from small children of gladioli. They do well in any soil.

Outwardly rounded, slightly flattened, with small tubercles over the entire surface, like a truffle candy. They have one flower bud, and the bottom of the bulb is small.

Medium bulbs for planting - two, three years of age. Slightly larger than a tennis ball, slightly flattened, have several flower buds, the bottom is the size of a penny.

Mature bulbs - they have already reached the age of five. Large size, with a tennis ball, with a large bottom. For planting on flowers, practically not suitable. Their stem will grow weak, low, there will be very few flowers, small, dull. They are used to raise future children from them.

In the photo, gladiolus Rugsee

The second stage at planting gladioli - choose the right place. It is sun-loving, therefore the clearing should be sunny. It will grow in shade or partial shade, but will be small, not strong, with weak flowers.

Or in general, when a few leaves appear, it will stop growing and die. The earth must be loosened, the roots are very fond of air. Grows well on chernozem, semi-sandy and semi-clay soils.

Also, the acidity of the soil should be low, lower it by adding chalk or unslaked lime to the ground. It would not be bad if legumes grew in place for gladioli the previous year.

In the photo, white gladiolus

They will not only enrich the earth, but also protect the future from the wireworm pest. Also fertilize in the fall. And change the place of planting flowers every 2-3 years.

Preparing gladioli before planting, the bulbs are cleaned of unnecessary scales, if there is a damaged or sore spot, you need to carefully cut it with a sharp knife and be sure to cover it with brilliant green.

If the bulbs are from last year, then the boxes with them are brought in a week before planting in a warm place, well lit, but with diffused light. Folded in one row, they will germinate with sprouts to the top until the sprout reaches a height of 5-10 cm.

Root tubercles should also grow more than two millimeters. If the bulb has neither sprouts nor tubercles, feel free to throw it away, it is unsuitable for planting. Then they need to be processed within one to two hours, you can use a weak manganese solution, or any purchased one.

The tubers are prepared, the place is selected, we proceed to planting gladioli in open ground. Important question - when to plant gladiolus. Depending on the region, when the earth is already warm enough, from the end of April to mid-summer.

The soil is well loosened, cleared of weeds, roots. Plant each bulb to a depth equal to three tuber diameters, up to about 15 centimeters, with a flower bud up.

In the photo, gladiolus "Winter bonfire" or "Rowan in the snow"

First, pour a little sand on the bottom, plant a gladiolus, sprinkle it with sand, you can also add wood ash, then soil. The distance between them is 10-15cm.

The width between rows is at least twenty-five centimeters. baby gladiolus in spring are also planted. Pre-dig rows, up to five centimeters deep and plant future flowers, according to the principle of adult tubers (sand, sprout, sand, earth), five centimeters apart.

The planting depth also depends on the composition of the soil. The denser it is, the less depth. A shallowly planted plant can give abundant growth to children, but with a weak stem.

Which then will need to be tied up. A deep-planted bulb may grow, but not please with its flowering. Pour the landing site with a weak solution of manganese.

Gladiolus Care

Equally important in growing flowers - caring for gladioli. The first weeks, after planting the bulbs, it is recommended to water the flowers every two or three days so that the peduncle is well formed.

On dry days, water every evening, then when the soil is a little dry, it must be weeded and weeded. It is good if the water for irrigation is rain or settled.

When the first leaves appear, they will be very happy to spray. It is important to water not in a row with flowers, but between rows. So the bulb does not fester and gets the amount of moisture it needs.

In the photo, gladiolus is yellow

Yet gladiolus in spring need to be fed. In fact, this procedure is carried out during the spring - summer season five times. The first, when the first leaves appear, nitrogenous fertilizers are applied to better form greenery.

When six strong, green leaves have grown, they fertilize with potassium-phosphorus compounds. For the third time, top dressing is applied when buds are already forming on the stems.

The fourth time during flowering, and the fifth time after cutting the stems after flowering. Also, once, twice a month you need to make organic fertilizer. But only bird droppings, animal manure is not recommended, especially horse manure.

Bird droppings are used as follows: a bucket of organics is poured with two buckets of water, insisted for ten days. Then the finished mixture is added one liter per bucket of water.

Pictured is Gladiolus Blue Bird

After the flower has faded, it must be cut. But not completely, because the bulb is still developing. It is necessary to cut the stem and leave 4-5 leaves until autumn.

Another month after cutting to be in the ground. Then, from mid-September, you can start digging the bulbs. The soil must be dry. First of all, early varieties are extracted, then later ones, and children. After removing the tubers, you need to carefully examine them for the presence of any diseases.

Carefully cut off the roots, spread out depending on the variety. Then rinse under running water, preferably treat with an antiseptic solution, rinse again, let drain and lay out exactly in rows in one layer, to dry. Choose a sunny, well-ventilated place for drying. The process will take three to four weeks.

Without removing the scales, gladiolus bulbs are folded for winter storage. At first they are separated from each other, the old ones from the substitutes, the children. Then each separately should be wrapped in paper.

In the photo, gladiolus fuchsia

Immediately divide and write down where which variety is, so as not to get confused in the spring. Small children are also put in paper bags and put away for the winter. You can store it in a closed container on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.

If you have grown enough tubers, they are stored in boxes stacked in one layer in the cellar or basement. Withstand temperatures from 5 to 10 degrees Celsius. It is very important to maintain the correct storage temperature in order to avoid early germination of flowers.

Types and varieties of gladioli

Growing gladioli, not so hard work. But how many beautiful varieties can be bred in your backyard. Now it is bred and used in cultivation mainly hybrid varieties.

In appearance, a gladiolus flower petal can be - folded, terry, corrugated, simple, dragon. They are also small-flowered - Focus, Orchid Lailek, Cezanne; medium flowering - Elegy, Dust, Polaris; and large-flowered - Velvet, Don Quixote, Peacock's Eye.

Also, they are early flowering, medium and late flowering. And if you correctly combine the varieties of gladioli in the beds, then the beauty in your garden will be from mid-summer to autumn. Early varieties of flowers bloom as early as 80 days after planting the tuber. These are Shaman, May Day, Snowball, Little Red Riding Hood.

Medium - bloom from the middle to the end of summer, 90 days after planting. Some of its varieties are White Stone Moscow, Give Me a Smile, Dawn Birth, etc. Late varieties - flowering 100 days after planting, in early autumn. Some of them are Rugsee, Pasaka, Celestial.

Diseases and pests of gladioli

Unfortunately, gladioli are susceptible to various diseases. Therefore, as soon as at least one of the symptoms is noticeable, it is urgent to remove it, along with a piece of soil near it, and disinfect the soil.

Fusarium disease is widespread. The leaves begin to turn yellow, wither, and the tuber becomes moldy. Most often occurs during the flowering period. To prevent it, the bulbs are treated with a special solution before planting.

Sclerotinic - the leaves turn yellow from the base, the bulb is affected. There is only one way to fight. The most affected tubers are discarded, and the less susceptible ones are treated with Fusarium.

In the photo, gladiolus Home Fireplace

Septoria, botrytia, penicillin rot - occurs with abundant watering, improper storage of tubers, dense planting. Leaves, tubers are affected. Having treated the plant in time with a solution of copper sulfate or Bordeaux mixture, it can save.

Scab - the plant and tubers are covered with dark spots. The disease enters the ground with poor-quality, infected planting material and spreads rapidly. To cope with the disease, diseased flowers are removed, and the soil needs to be acidified.

Mosaic is a very dangerous infectious disease. The leaves have yellow veins. It enters the ground with pests and infected bulbs. Method of struggle - all affected tubers are destroyed.

There are also pests: click beetle, wireworm, tripe insect. Fighting them is not difficult. It is necessary to clear the beds of weeds; in the spring, before planting, be sure to process the bulbs. By following the rules and adhering to the tips for growing these royal flowers, your flower beds will be ablaze with beauty for the whole summer.

This perennial bulbous tuber plant of the iris family is widely distributed in our country. In total, the genus unites approximately 250 species. It is named so due to the xiphoid shape of the leaves. In Russia, it is sometimes called a skewer, since in Latin "gladiolus" means "short sword".

Since the gladiolus is highly revered and even loved by our flower growers, it is necessary to dwell in more detail on the botanical and biological characteristics of the plant in order to successfully grow it. The growth rate and development of the flower depend on the size of the corm. And the size of the corm, in turn, depends on the age, on the gladiolus variety and, of course, on the growing conditions.

What is gladiolus corm

This is an annually renewed wintering organ, but in fact it is, oddly enough, a modified shoot covered with dry films. Films are just the remains of leaves. You can verify this if you clean the corm from membranous scales. Then concentric leaf scars with oppositely located lateral buds and a central apical bud become visible on it. Along the circumference of the donets (as the lower part of the corm is called), root tubercles are laid.

By size corms are divided into three types: in the first case, the diameter of the corm is at least 3.2 cm, in the second - from 2.5 to 3.1 cm and in the third - from 1.5 to 2.4 cm. corm height. If it is flattened, then its quality is low, and if the height of the corm is at least 2/3 of its diameter, the quality is high. Old corms have a more flattened appearance than young corms, which can be described as bulbous-round. Of course, the larger the corm, the higher the shoot from it is formed, the larger the inflorescence and flowers, and such a gladiolus blooms earlier.

You can predict the color of a particular variety by the color of the corm. From light corms, as a rule, flowers grow with a lighter color, although there is no strict dependence here. From the buds laid in the axils of the lower leaves, at the base of the replacement corm, children (tuber buds) are formed that sit on short shoots - stolons.

Description of gladiolus

Gladiolus has a complex root system, consisting of two tiers of roots. Thin, little branching roots of the first tier appear on the bottom during the germination of the corm. These first roots go into the soil to a depth of 25-40 cm. The first layer of roots gradually dies off along with the mother corm. This happens during the budding period. In the phase of the third leaf, the roots of the second tier begin to appear between the mother and the replacement corm. They are of two kinds: feeding (thin suction) and spindle-shaped retractors. Nature has prudently created a cunning mechanism, thanks to which a new corm, with the help of retracting roots, sinks into the soil to the depth of the mother. And this happens because the retracting roots are able to contract and pull a new corm along with them.

The stem of the gladiolus should be tall, straight and strong. Stem leaves only 7-12. They embrace the stalk, and from their embrace the stalk becomes stronger.

In the inflorescence of a gladiolus, there are an average of 15-20 flowers, about a quarter or half of which are open at the same time. The inflorescence itself is a one-sided or two-sided spike from 30 to 80 cm long. Flowers are arranged with different densities, single-row or double-row. If there is some distance between the petals of neighboring flowers, the inflorescence is considered loose, and vice versa, if the petals of neighboring flowers partially overlap each other, the inflorescence is considered dense. In a medium-dense inflorescence, the petals of neighboring flowers slightly touch each other.

A simple funnel-shaped perianth consists of six lobes. They make up, as it were, two circles, growing together at the base of the flower into a narrow tube. Depending on how the lobes of the flower are located, two of its forms are distinguished: direct (zrdel) and reverse (gandavensis). The edges of the stakes can be corrugated (this is the difference between American varieties), wavy (European varieties) or smooth. Thanks to hybridization, about one hundred thousand varieties of gladiolus have been obtained. They differ in size, shape, size of flowers and inflorescences, color, overall height and flowering time. Gladiolus also have an international classification based on size, color and flowering time.

flowering gladiolus

Early flowering gladioli bloom in mid-July, medium - in mid-August, late - in September. But the development of gladioli is strongly influenced by weather and climatic conditions. With a cold spring, the duration of development increases, the same can happen with a lack of moisture. It must be borne in mind that different varieties of gladiolus keep open at the same time a different number of flowers. In the conditions of the North-West and the Non-Black Earth Region of Russia, about eight flowers open at the same time in medium varieties. In this case, attention should be paid to corms. Most flowers open if the corm is high and its diameter is 3-5 cm. When you start planting such corms, you will need to leave only one bud, and break the rest.

Gladiolus Care

Gladiolus is a beautiful flower, but in accordance with its appearance, it claims to have a complex life cycle. If you get carried away with its cultivation, you will have to take into account the difficult "character" of the plant. The fact is that gladiolus, in terms of life form and rhythm of development, belongs to cultures with a pronounced dormant period in unfavorable seasons of the year. In our northern regions, as soon as frost sets in, vegetation is often interrupted. That is, from October to April, corms most often require rest, or rather, they are at rest.

After planting, leaves begin to appear from the apical bud. And here everything is arranged very cleverly. A weak sprout during germination requires protection, and the first 3-4 leaves carry it out.

The next leaves do not come out of the ground for a long time, as if fearing to appear in the white light. The sprout appears only 10-20 days after planting. It is covered with a fourth leaf, which, unable to withstand the force of growth, is torn. In the first three leaves, the base is expanded, dormant buds are laid in the axils of the leaves on the young corm.

During the week, the first sheet is deployed, each subsequent one - after 7-10 days. Then, stem leaves are formed on the flowering shoot, in which buds are laid in the axils. Lateral peduncles develop from them (in some varieties).

If you observe the development of a flower, you will notice that, depending on the variety and conditions, all the vegetative organs of the gladiolus, from the appearance of a sprout to budding, are formed in a total of 55-75 days, i.e. 2-2.5 months. After the last stem leaf appears, the inflorescence hurries to advance. And from the beginning of budding to the opening of the first flower, it takes about 10-16 days. Flowering lasts about 30-40 days, after which the seeds ripen.

After the aerial part of the flower dies off, pay attention to the new corm and babies and save them in the winter until the next growing season.

Gladiolus is a photophilous plant, does not like daylight hours to be less than 10 hours. His development slows down, the growth of the aerial part worsens, the flowering period is delayed. And sometimes the gladiolus refuses to bloom at all with less than 10 hours of daylight. Young plants react especially painfully to the amount of light, in which the replacement corm is smaller. And adult plants do not respond well to short daylight hours. In some of them, the peduncle begins to develop more quickly, but the number of flowers and the length of the inflorescence decrease. Particularly unfavorable is the short daylight period during the flowering period, when the third above-ground leaf appears, because at this time the inflorescence is differentiated at the point of growth.

In order for the plant to develop normally, gladioli need a temperature of 18-25 ° C, for the formation of roots - about 9-10 ° C, and for root growth -15 ° C. Thus, if we summarize the temperature data, we can say that for normal growth and flowering gladiolus needs an air temperature of 10 to 25 ° C. A clear relationship between air temperature and the formation of inflorescences can be traced in the case of night cooling during the appearance of the third and fourth above-ground leaves, that is, about three weeks after planting. The formation of inflorescences in this case immediately stops and flowering is very late.

In principle, gladioli are quite resistant to a lack of moisture, and nevertheless, for normal development and flowering conditions in the entire root layer of the soil up to a depth of 40 cm, high humidity is needed (up to about 80-85%).

Gladioli prefer structural chernozem soils, light loamy or sandy with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction. These plants do not tolerate heavy loamy, peaty and sandy, highly alkaline and acidic soils at all.

In general, gladioli are quite demanding plants, so the ground for planting them must be prepared in advance. On an uncultivated site, the desired soil structure is created within two to three years. Sand is added to heavy loams, and clay, well-rotted compost or humus is added to sandy soils. Acidic soils have to be limed, embedding 300-400 g of fluffy lime per 1 m2.

The cultivated area also needs to be prepared: dig up the soil and add 3-5 kg ​​of humus or 8-10 kg of compost per 1 m2. From mineral fertilizers, superphosphate should be applied at the rate of 70 g per 1 m2. If potassium nitrate is added to superphosphate at 30 g per 1 m2, then this soil can only be improved. Instead of superphosphate, bone meal, horn shavings, and eggshells are sometimes used.

From the beginning of May, corms of medium-late and late varieties are hardened, and in early June, after the end of frost, they are planted in open ground. By this time, at a depth of 10-12 cm, the soil should warm up to 10 ° C. Of course, before planting, corms of medium-late and late varieties are grown in boxes or cups. Ungrown corms should be planted in mid-April - early May. The timing depends on when the frost ends in your area. You need to calculate so that the leaves appear above the ground after the last frost.

Planting a gladiolus

Plant corms at 25-35 pieces per 1 m2, so that the distance between flowering corms is 20-25 cm. On heavy soils, the planting depth should be 8 cm, on light soils - 12 cm. Children should be planted at 40-70 pieces per 1 m2. The depth of their planting should be equal to three times the diameter of the corm. And one more thing, regarding the method of planting: plant gladioli in rows from north to south, because in this case the soil warms up better and the plants are better illuminated.

Flowering corms should be planted with the bottom pointing straight down. Tubers with a diameter of less than 0.5 cm, if the site is dry, must be moistened before planting so that the seedlings are friendly. Sometimes, if you don't have a good variety of planting material, and you would like to propagate it, planting can be carried out on a barrel, upside down, or split corms. Why do they do it? The fact is that landing on a barrel and upside down causes the germination of lateral buds, which means it increases the number of replacement corms. And if, when planting with turning the corms, the central bud is also removed, then the number of corms will increase by three to five times.

There are varieties that produce only one replacement corm and very few babies. Such corms are divided with a sharp knife, and after each cut, the knife is disinfected. It is necessary to divide so that each part has a sleeping kidney and a part of the bottom. After separation, all shares should be allowed to dry for several hours and then sprinkled with crushed charcoal.

Flowers should be taken care of regularly, watered abundantly, spending 10-15 liters per 1 m2, but at the same time make sure that water does not get on the leaves and peduncles. Do not be lazy and underestimate the importance of watering gladioli, because with a lack of moisture, a weak replacement corm is formed, few children are formed, the upper flowers are underdeveloped, and the peduncle is bent. Flowers especially need water in the phase of the 3-4th leaf and during flowering, therefore, if you want to see normal beautiful plants on your site, you will have to be especially attentive to gladioli during these periods.

One watering is not enough. After you irrigate, the soil must be loosened, and the plants should be spudded, and it is desirable to carry out loosening after rain, and in dry weather at least once every 10 days. You need to start hilling the plant from the phase of the first stem leaf. Hilling height - 10 cm. Together with loosening, weeding should also be carried out, however, not as often as loosening, but as needed.

In order to ensure uniform distribution of moisture, improve soil aeration and delay the growth of weeds, soil mulching should be carried out, for which well-decomposed peat and humus should be used. You can also advise finely chopped straw, tree leaves (except oak and willow), chaff, mulch paper and black plastic wrap. If you decide to use sawdust in very warm areas (they prevent soil heating), you will have to increase the dose of nitrogen in top dressing, because sawdust actively absorbs nitrogen from the soil.

Mulching can be started when the plants reach a height of 4-5 cm, after loosening and weeding. Spread the material in a layer of 3-5 cm, and place a black plastic film between the rows. If you cover the entire area with a film, then after the shoots appear, you will need to cut holes above them.

You need to feed gladioli throughout the growing season. It is best to use nitrogen fertilizers that do not contain an ammonium group, and potash fertilizers that do not include chlorine. Mullein or chicken manure is an excellent nitrogen supplement, which can be prepared as follows: stir 4-5 buckets of fresh cow manure or 2 buckets of chicken manure in 50 liters of water. After that, you need to close the container with the solution and withstand 10-12 days. Before feeding, dilute the solution with water in a ratio of 1: 10 and add 1 g of potassium permanganate per 1 liter of solution. During watering, top dressing can also be carried out, preferably in liquid form.

It is useful for plants to spray the leaves with a solution of minerals. As soon as the third leaf appears, it will be possible to spray: three to four times with an interval of 7 days. Such foliar dressings may contain nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, as well as copper, cobalt, manganese, zinc.

The domestic industry produces fertilizers suitable for foliar dressings: copper sulfate - 0.25 g, boric acid - 0.06 g, potassium permanganate - 0.15 g, cobalt nitrate - 0.18 g, zinc sulfate - 0.16 g. All doses are given per 1 liter of water. When spraying, make sure that the solution gets on both sides of the sheet. But you need to remember that foliar top dressings do not replace the main dressings.

When the gladioli grow up, do not forget to tie them to a stretched wire or stakes. Hilling can replace the garter, but only in part.

Gladiolus, like all plants, are susceptible to various diseases. In addition to observing the conditions for growing plants, it is necessary from time to time to carry out preventive sanitary measures: inspect flowers, remove and destroy all diseased plants, spray plantings with special preparations.

In order for gladioli to grow healthy, strong and beautiful, you need to properly dig and store corms. It is better to dig them out 45-50 days after the start of flowering, immature. Firstly, with early digging, the number of diseased corms decreases, and secondly, if you dig up fully ripe corms, you can lose several children, which are easily separated when digging. Left in the ground, they litter the site. Thus, in our area, it is better to dig up gladioli in mid-September - early October. This should be done in dry weather at temperatures above 0 ° C. A small number of plants can be dug up with leaves, tied in bunches and hung in dry rooms. Then wait until the leaves are completely dry. This will mean that all the nutrients have completely passed into the corms. After that, they, together with the children, must be dried at a temperature of 25-28 ° C and the young corms are separated from the old, shriveled ones, sorted by size and placed in storage, which lasts about seven months.

To make the corms feel comfortable during storage, place them in boxes, stacking no more than two layers. Maintain the air temperature for the first 25 days within 18-20 ° C so that the corms dry out completely. Then you need to lower the temperature to 5-7 ° C, and maintain the humidity at 60-70%. When storing boxes stack on top of each other. And do not forget, please, check the corms at least three or four times in winter.

They rest, that is, they are in a state of natural rest, corms for thirty to forty days. Then they wake up and can germinate. If suddenly sprouts appear early, it will be necessary to reduce the air temperature to 5 ° C, or even to 2 ° C.

If you are forced to store corms in a residential area, you will have to wax them. This is done as follows:

peeled from the upper scales and dried corms, dip in paraffin melted in a water bath, then lower them into cold water. Paraffin will quickly harden, creating a protective crust on the surface of the corm.

Tubers (small corms) are best stored in burlap, in paper, that is, in a container that allows air to pass through. The storage temperature should not exceed 5 ° C. If the temperature is not followed, the tubers will germinate poorly.

noble farmer-504-SR-Gromov -2002-SSG

21/8, a gladiolus with an amazing color - soft light green tones thicken into a bright green border, reminiscent of a green fringe due to strong corrugation. The fabrics of the petals are very dense texture, do not fade in the sun and are resistant to rain.

Girstupis -305-S-Lukashavichus-1999-SG

15/8, 125 cm, tricolor gladiolus, petal edges green, upper petals light pink, lower petals raspberry-purple spot. The shape of the flowers are similar to exotic butterflies.

Green Fairy -403-SR-Tsarev-2010-SSG

The buds are super corrugated, iridescent from the salad center to the bright green edges. The packing of the buds is dense, the ear is slender.

Radiant greenery -402-S-Kuznetsov-2002-SG

22/8, 150 cm, gladiolus of a delicate, light golden light green color, dense petal fabrics, strong ear, beautiful, strong corrugation. Excellent cut

Field of miracles -505-SR-Dybov-2004-SG

Pale light green with tints of pink color on the upper petals.

Ruby in emerald-403-R-Kiselev-2007-SSG

19/8, Light green, the lower petal is yellow with a ruby ​​spot. Very handsome.

Garden lawn -404-SR-Vasiliev -2010-SG

21/8, 130 cm., beautiful tone, light green gladiolus with strongly corrugated flowers.

Phalaenopsis -403-S-Markevicius-2008-SG

Beautifully ruffled flowers in a golden-light green tone. Lower petal with crimson spot. Exotic color combination.

Gladiolus proudly rise above all nearby growing flowers. Who hasn't admired the beauty of tall beauties, which flower beds begin to dazzle at the end of hot July days and bloom until autumn? It seems to me that there are no indifferent to these proud beauties at all. Their delicate multi-colored inflorescences and wide xiphoid leaves, in combination, make a splash.

Description and characteristics

To the genus of perennial corms of the Iris family, Gladiolus (Gladíolus) or, as it is also called Shpazhnik, is known to many gardeners. They come from tropical hot Africa, the countries of central Eurasia, Madagascar and even some regions of Western Siberia.

The first gladioli

• Today there are more than 250 species. But all are combined with each other with leaves in the form of a sharpened sword or sword, by the way, Gladíus, translated from Latin, means “sword”. The xiphoid leaves can grow up to 70-80 cm in length.
• Therefore, this sword flower is considered more male than female. For his proud and unshakable appearance, he is credited with the properties of courage and fearlessness, courage and loyalty.
• And complexly arranged various flowers are distinguished by their multiplicity and strength of attachment to the stem, which is quite high in some species reaches 80 cm.
• It cannot particularly boast of a long life, since it lives for about 5 years, constant renewal is necessary.
• It grows from 50 cm in dwarf varieties and up to 150 cm in giant subspecies.
• Inflorescences of the most unimaginable colors from pure and clear to incredible combinations of colors: yellow with green, purple with white, blue and lilac, brown and pink, and many others.

How to use gladiolus ornamental plant it didn't happen right away. For a fairly long period of time, they were considered weeds and were mercilessly destroyed, where they should not have grown.

pantry of the sun

1. BC. Gladiolus bulbs were used exclusively for food. They were dried, ground into flour and then baked into bread or cakes.
2. In the first years of our era. bulbs were used as protection against evil forces and as an amulet in battle (they were worn around the neck).
3. In the Middle Ages, another use already appeared - therapeutic: diuretic and removing toothache.
4. And only in 1807 and subsequent years, the first hybrid varieties began to appear that came to our gardens. And they found application as decorative flowers.

Varieties and classification

Garden samples, which were obtained after crossing wild-growing varieties of skewers among themselves, turned out to be so successful and diverse that in 1945 a special system was created in the USA. classification of varieties of gladiolus. These are sets of their numbers that determine the size of the flower and its color.

Varieties of gladioli in size from the smallest to giant:

love potion

1. miniature
2. Small-flowered
3. mid-flowered
4. large flowers
5. giant flowers
6. Wide in circumference

Miniature varieties look no less attractive than, for example, large or giant ones. Imagine a stem abundantly strewn with a scattering of small flowers of an unusual color, well, of course, giants with corrugated inflorescences are not going to yield to them in beauty in any way, this is already a matter of taste.

But why not get both for yourself?

Gladiolus Golden Symphony

So, the first digit in the code means itself flower size, the next one shows the main color, if the third is identical to the second, then the color is intense and pure without adding other tones, when the number is different, then this means that there is a blotch of another color.

The number 0 corresponds to white and green. Moreover, 00 is pure white, and 04 is pure green, when you see 02, a light green color tone is indicated.

The next item in the classification code is one or two letters that show when flowering occurs. For example, OR - very early, OP - very late, early, medium, medium early and P - late. As you can see, there are six subgroups.

At the very end, the last two digits of the year the hybrid was bred, and the final touch is the name of the breeder himself, who created this or that variety.

Popular varieties of gladiolus with names and photos

The variety of varieties is so great that you can completely dissolve in it, but people tend to single out the most acceptable and favorite for themselves. Someone likes to have a lot of corrugated inflorescences, and someone wants his gladioli to be visible from anywhere in the garden, while others choose because of the color they like. There are many, many nuances and differences.

Gladiolus varieties

Let's deal with the most popular and common types, what they are.

blue patterns

Video review of gladiolus varieties:

Outdoor cultivation

Yellow corrugated varieties

Proud tall handsome men invariably attract multiple glances from everyone. It is impossible not to admire the beauty of the inflorescences of a wide variety of shades and shapes. Velvety and smooth petals, corrugated or scalloped shape, everything about them is beautiful.

Some people say: plant gladiolus and dahlias in your flower bed or in your garden and you won't be bothered.

But, it's scary only at first glance, the only main difficulty is that you need to constantly dig up and replant the bulbs. As soon as the realization of this comes and the cultivation and care of gladioli begins.

Place for spring planting

Before you grow gladioli in the country, in a garden or in a flower bed, you need to decide on a place. It must be necessarily sunny area, having good protection from the wind, although the plants are strong, but a strong wind can literally put them on the ground. A light breeze will not hurt, the movement of air will help in protection against the occurrence of fungal diseases.

• Sandy loam and loam will be the best soil, if your soil is too heavy, add sand when planting.
• Lowlands or wetlands are not suitable, due to the risk of wetting and rotting of the tubers.
• Do not plant on slopes, as the plants are quite tall and may slope.
• Places with a high groundwater approach are also undesirable.

Planting gladioli for the first time allows you to choose any place convenient for them and you, if this is not the first time, then observe the following:

Every two years, and preferably annually, the place for planting gladiolus bulbs should change.

The best predecessors will be: strawberries, onions, garlic, marigolds and tomatoes, those for which manure was introduced are undesirable.

How to properly prepare the soil for planting gladioli

How to plant gladioli

These flowers grow beautifully on almost any soil, the main thing is that it be light and with the addition of sand on heavy soils, or vice versa, clay, if necessary, slightly improve too sandy soil, from which all nutrients will quickly be washed out.

Acidity should be light, excess can lead to Fusarium, one of the most dangerous fungal diseases. Alkaline soil is also not good, it will slow down the flow of iron from the soil, which disrupts normal growth and development.

The soil is prepared in early spring, and if you know that you have a dry area, then it would be better to start in the fall. Humus is brought in and the earth is dug twice as deep, followed by spring digging. It will be about 30 centimeters.

In the spring, dig again with the application of mineral fertilizers per 1 sq.m:

• Ammonium nitrate 15g
• Superphosphate 15g
• Potassium sulfate 30g

The introduction of compost and charcoal is welcome, which is an additional organic top dressing.

Choosing healthy bulbs

Gladiolus bulbs

First of all, decide on your climate region and soil, purchase suitable, just for you, planting samples. Fortunately, a variety of varieties will only help you.

Remember that gladioli are sun- and heat-loving flowers, if you live in cold northern regions, growing them outdoors can be problematic.

An excellent way out will be long and deep pots or tubs that can be placed in a sufficiently lit room with a warm climate.

It can be an insulated balcony or a covered porch, preferably with enough time to absorb the sun's rays. After all, Gladíolus is, first of all, a “sunny flower”.

How to plant

In the dug up earth, a furrow is made 15-20 centimeters deep, it all depends on your soil, the lighter it is, the deeper the onion should be planted. If planted too deep, the gladiolus may not bloom at all, if at the top, it may begin to collapse under its own weight and you will have to put a support.

Sand is poured at the bottom of the furrow or it can be paved with sphagnum, be sure to shed dry land with water.

Plant bulbs at a distance of 7-15 cm from each other, it all depends on the size, the larger the tuber, the more space is needed, respectively. Babies land after 3-5cm. Be sure to separate from adults, as they will take all the nutrients from the soil and the children will not be able to develop.

Observe the dimensions of the bulbs when planting. The largest and strongest examples plant in a separate place.

From above, the bed can be covered with compost or peat chips, you can cover it with a film for a while, for rapid growth.

Gladiolus flower planting and care

Properly verified fit is, of course, good, but then it’s still more interesting. Caring for gladioli during growth and flowering is not lost in its significance.

Planting gladioli video:

Watering

How to water gladioli

You need to water the beds constantly, if the weather is dry, then every day in the evening, and on cloudy or rainy days as needed. You won’t flood them.

Garden gladioli - the flowers are tall and slender, they consume a lot of moisture.

Water must be settled or collected after rain in containers prepared for this, which will be even better.

Who remembers how the grandmother in the village collected rainwater all the time, it was considered the most useful.

It is better to pour water in the aisle to avoid rotting of the bulbs, and the soil around them will be saturated with water. You can also spray the leaves that have appeared.

Top dressing during growth and flowering

This flower is a representative of the male tribe, and like a true man loves to be cherished, loved and fed deliciously. And what could it be? Of course, fertilizers made by caring hands.

It should be remembered that before and after fertilization, it is necessary to water the plant, if something gets on the leaves, also rinse with water.

Consider the basic rules and timing of fertilization to improve plant development.

Gladiolus Golden Symphony

• During the appearance of visible sprouts that have grown to 10 cm, you can mulch the beds with compost. It will serve as an excellent fertilizer and protect tender sprouts from drying out.
• During the appearance of 3 leaves, it is recommended to apply nitrogen-containing fertilizers so that juicy foliage grows more intensively. For example: 20 g of urea per 10 liters of water.
• When 6 leaves appear, feeding is slightly different. Less nitrogen is taken, and more potassium and phosphorus.
• In the last days of June, the increase in superphosphate is doubled 60g, 40g of nitrogen fertilizer and 50g of potassium salt.
• Every 2-3 weeks organic bird manure fertilizer is recommended. Insist 10-14 days in a dark place, stirring from time to time. And then 1 liter of infusion is taken for 10 liters of water.
• Handsome people will not refuse microfertilizers. For this, it is used for 10 liters of water: 2 g of potassium permanganate, 3 g of boric acid, 3 g of copper sulfate and 3.5 g of magnesium sulfate.

All top dressing is carried out at a temperature not lower than 12-15 ° C at night, and stable sunny weather. During prolonged rains, everything that will be brought in will quickly be washed out. And you have to do it all over again.

Weeding and loosening

Young shoots of gladiolus

This is probably not worth talking about, but we will repeat. It is imperative to remove weeds, because they take away all the useful elements that should fall into the right place. With the loosening of the earth, air exchange improves, oxygen enters the gladiolus bulbs.

Weeding until sprouts appear from the surface of the earth must be done carefully so as not to inadvertently cut off a growing young shoot.

It is especially useful to loosen the soil a little after watering or rain to prevent the formation of a "crust" that prevents air and nutrients from flowing directly to the bulb. During weeding, you need a little, as if to burn the earth on a sprout. This strengthens the growing stem and creates a recess along the growing gladiolus for easy subsequent watering.

Gladiolus garter

Particularly popular and sought-after samples from the tall series. These giants grow from 1.5m to 2m. In order for such a handsome man to stand straight and not bend under his weight, he needs support. It can be made separately for each flower, or you can stretch a wire along a long bed and tie it all at once.

Collection and processing of bulbs

How to collect onions

After the flower has been cut, it is not necessary to immediately dig out the bulbs, since the nutrients necessary for a favorable wintering of the plant pass through the remaining leaves into the tuber. This period occurs about a month after flowering.

Before digging, cut off the stems that remain to the level of 4 cm. The procedure itself is carried out on dry days, so that after shaking off all the remnants of the earth it was easier. Bulbs are inspected for damage by diseases and pests.

Without removing the scales, they are folded into boxes and left to air and dry for a month. Then the container with the tubers is moved to a dark, cool place, the basement or (in extreme cases) the lower shelf of the refrigerator would be best.

reproduction

Children of gladioli

In general, gladiolus reproduces from children or by dividing tubers.

1. Reproduction by children begins with the collection, when you carefully separate all the children from the main bulb, carry out all the measures mentioned above. It is necessary to look that the roots and the upper part from which the stem will grow are intact. Soak them in a strong manganese solution before planting.
2. The division of the bulbs is used mainly when there are very few new babies, or the variety does not produce them at all. And also, if you want to bring out a new variety of gladioli. The tuber is carefully cut so that the kidney falls on each part. After all, it is from the kidneys that sprouts will come.

Diseases and pests

The first line of defense for your plants is to change where the bulbs are planted in the beds. Try to change the place constantly, do not forget this Golden Rule.

The next method is chopped garlic, which can be added during spring digging, it also serves as a preventive measure against infection with fungal diseases.

To protect against scab, you can plant a viola nearby, this beautiful and delicate flower emits phytoncides that repel and adversely affect this evil spirits.

Among the most famous fungal diseases that affect gladioli, it is worth noting:

• Rust
• Fusarios
• Botrytis
• Septoria

Advance treatment of tubers with foundationazole, in most cases, will help prevent fungal infections.

Also effective are the use of Horus or Falcon preparations, combine karbofos with copper chloride. In each case, look at the situation.

Of the pests, thrips most often attack (treat with Aktara or Confidor-Extra) and bulbous mites (Agrovertin).

Gladiolus in landscape design

Gladiolus in the landscape

• These magnificent beauties are self-expressive enough to be shaded by other plants. They are most often planted in groups of five to seven pieces of the same color or similar shades, or, quite the contrary, contrasting colors: red and white gladioli, for example, will look great in combination. It should be noted that white gladioli and all light shades will be perfectly visible even at dusk.
• It is not recommended to plant dahlias and gladioli nearby, they are eternal rivals. It is better that “undersized neighbors” grow nearby so that they can set off the magnificent scope of growth and grandeur of these beautiful flowers. Exquisitely will look next to a miniature, suitable shade.
• Do not plant large-flowered and miniature varieties nearby, because the giants will block the graceful juiciness of delicate flowers.

Growing gladioli in the open field video: