Gladioli come in many varieties and are planted largely for their value as a cut flower. They are grown abundantly in France and can often be found in the vegetable garden grown in neat rows. Each stem lasts around 2 weeks, but if planted over a period of several months their colourful blooms can be enjoyed throughout the summer.
Prepare the planting area with compost or well-rotted manure. Where the soil is particularly heavy, add a few handfuls of grit to aid drainage. Then during March, plant the corms (the bulb-like underground stem) in rows if you require them just for cutting, at a depth of around 15cm. You can also create a more natural style of planting within your borders, by laying the corms out in loose swathes varying their planting depth from 10 – 20cm to help stagger flowering times.
Once they appear, don’t forget to support them – wire support rings are extremely good for this. These can even be put in place immediately after planting to remind you of where the corms are!