With what to plant gladioli in a flower bed. About flower fireworks in the garden and what gardeners do in winter

The lush gladiolus is perhaps the most amazing creature among all the flowering plants that can be found in the backyard. How to grow luxurious gladioli in open ground- to carry out their landing and give them proper care - we will tell in this article. We will also try to highlight their role in landscape design.

Description: varieties and varieties of gladiolus

Gladiolus - a majestic and beautiful flower - is quite common in flower beds

The combination of originality and the most delicate color scheme, complemented by an unexpected corrugation pattern, makes the gladiolus so organic that it is able to captivate the eyes of anyone who dares to look at this miracle.

Today, flower growers have about 170 species and subspecies, most of them come from Madagascar and South Africa. Varietal characteristics of this plant are combined into 2 groups:

Decorative - here everything is determined by the length of the inflorescences and the number of flower buds in it; color, size and shape of the flower.
Household - the flowering period and the height of the garden plant; sensitivity to weather and transportation; reproduction rate.

According to the gradation, each variety is assigned a three-digit code, where the first digit indicates the size of the inflorescence, the second - the color, the third - the tone.

Blooming flower size divides gladioli into the following categories:

with miniature flowers;
small-flowered;
mid-flowered;
large-flowered;
gigantic.

Plants look great, abundantly strewn with small flowers (up to 6 cm) with a spectacular color, gladioli with velvety flowers of large sizes (from 20 cm) are no less delightful.

Gladiolus grandiflorum

I would like to pay special attention to the description of the shape of the edges of the petals: it can be smooth, luxurious corrugated, fringed and folded. Nature did a great job on the color of the flowers: fantastic transitions of shades and bright contrasts cannot but arouse admiration. The entire color palette is present here, ranging from pale shades to rich colors.

The flowering period divides gladioli into 7 groups, among them are early and very early specimens, medium early and medium cultures, medium late and late plants, and finally, very late ones. AT middle lane more often you can find varieties with their inherent early, as well as medium flowering periods.

Gladiolus with bicolor flowers

Depending on the arrangement of flower buds in the inflorescence, plants can be single-, double-row and zigzag. But the height divides the flowers into low, low, medium and strong.

The abundance of species, as well as the natural beauty, delights gladiolus. Often, breeders who revere this fragrant flower give years of their lives to develop new varieties with even more luxurious colors and inflorescence shapes.

Planting a plant

To grow luxurious gladioli in your backyard, you will have to be patient, read our recommendations and planting tips, proper care and reproduction.

Gladiolus bulbs before planting

Growing gladioli, planting and caring for it is a very time-consuming task, because it includes preparing corms for storage in winter, culling them, planting them in the soil in spring, regular weeding, watering and loosening, feeding and treatment in case of detection of diseases, as well as timely digging - all this cyclical obligatory work will not frighten unless the true fans of this plant. However, the result will exceed all expectations: nature will more than make up for the time and effort spent on growing!

Advice! If you want to grow luxurious flowers, about which you can say that they are “like in an exhibition”, then the varieties should be selected taking into account the characteristics of the soil and the climate of the area. It is better to buy a large-sized baby, since its acclimatization will be easier.

You need to plant a baby annually. In this case, you will always have young corms on hand, with which you can replace the old ones at any time.

Gladiolus bulbs with the formed "kids"

Gladioli are known for their love of light and heat, so it is recommended to plant them in a wind-protected area where the sun's rays are frequent guests. Of course, partial shade is also quite suitable for growing flowers, but you should not expect early flowering. Ideally, the planting site should be on a hill, since a bulbous plant can die from an excess of moisture.

Advice! The soil for planting is better to choose neutral or slightly acidic. It should include black soil, a small amount of clay or sand. Often, gardeners resort to additional components - peat or compost, but only rotted.

When preparing corms for planting in the soil, they are cleaned of scales and visually inspected. Even if the onion is healthy, it must be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate. Planting gladioli is recommended in slightly warmed soil: its temperature at a depth of 15 cm should be + 8ºС or higher.

Planting bulbs in prepared soil

Holes are made in the soil - depending on the size of the bulbs, the distance is from 5 to 15 cm. To speed up the process of plant emergence, gardeners cover the soil with a film.

Gladiolus Care

It cannot be said that the cultivation of flowers is a complex process, but still one cannot do without observing certain points.

After planting the plants, it is necessary to mulch using sawdust, humus and compost.
Gladioli are recommended to be watered at least 5-6 times a week, taking into account weather conditions and at the rate of 10-15 liters of water per 1 m². So that the plant does not suffer from fungal infections, special grooves are made in the soil between the flower rows, into which water is poured.
The growth and flowering of the crop is also affected by the presence of weeds, on which slugs are often planted, which take away nutrients from the roots of the gladiolus. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the systematic weeding of flower rows and the removal of weeds.
With the advent of the second leaf and until the very end of summer, you need to regularly feed the plant with mineral fertilizers. It is better to make them in small doses, combining with watering. Remember that top dressing has a positive effect on the growth and quality of inflorescences, reduces the sensitivity of flowers to diseases.
To cut the grown gladiolus, you will need a secateurs or a sharp knife, and the cut itself is done at an angle of 45º. After the plant has faded, it is necessary to cut off the stems on which the flowers bloomed almost to the root, leaving only a couple of leaves.

The minimum distance for planting plants is 15 cm, and the gardener determines the maximum distance himself, depending on the design of the flower bed

Advice! When watering gladioli, make sure that the water does not wet the leaves!

Fertilizer and fertilizing gladiolus

Throughout their growing season, gladioli need to be fed:

During the formation of the first 3-4 leaves, the plant is fed with nitrogen fertilizers. These can be mineral or organic (a weak solution of chicken manure) compounds that stimulate growth.
With the advent of 5-6 leaves, you can use fertilizers containing a complex of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium substances. True, if the soil is rich enough in itself, then nitrogen fertilizers can be excluded from this trio.
At the stage of inflorescence formation, it is customary to use phosphorus-potassium supplements that stimulate ripening and flowering.

Mineral supplements applied according to the scheme are essential for the plant

In addition, once every 3 weeks, flower growers are advised to additionally use diluted green fertilizer, and at the time of the appearance of buds and flowering, a suspension of wood ash.

Plant propagation

Usually, for the cultivation of bulbous plants, namely, gladiolus belongs to them, two methods are used: growing from children and dividing corms. In central Russia, from a large and healthy baby, you can get corms in one season, which will be able to provide excellent flowering for the next season. It is only necessary to get rid of flower stalks in time, if they appear.

Reproduction of new varieties, as well as varieties that give few children, occurs by dividing the bulb. It should be divided so that a kidney remains in each part.

Reproduction of gladiolus by dividing the bulb

But to seed propagation flower growers advise not to resort to gladioli, explaining that a culture grown in this way can lose its characteristic color and shape of flowers.

Diseases and pests

To protect your plants from disease, try to plant flowers in different places each year. However, this recommendation does not always apply to small garden plots, which means that the implementation of preventive measures is your main weapon against pests and diseases.

Diseased gladiolus bulbs

To disinfect the soil, you can use garlic cloves in the spring. To do this, it is crushed, laid out on the beds and dug up. Flowers can be planted after 2-3 days. Such a measure is effective against fungal diseases, but in relation to scab, unfortunately, it is useless. To avoid this disease, gladioli are planted together with viola, which releases phytoncides that suppress the appearance of scab pathogens.

Sawdust soaked in a solution of nitrofen (1 spoon per 5 liters of liquid) is also very effective, into which corms are then planted. The number of plant treatments will depend on the condition of the soil and the quality of the planting material. While the plants do not bloom, they can be treated with the following preparations:

fundozol solution (0.1%);
copper oxychloride solution (0.3%);
karbofos solution (0.2%);
copper-soap preparation (100 g of green soap + 10 g of copper sulfate + 5 l of water).

Gladiolus diseases

It is allowed to spray combined formulations, for example, copper chloride and karbofos. After the corms are dug up in the fall, they should be protected from fungi and bacteria with a 0.15% solution of potassium permanganate or 0.2 of the fundozol composition. Reliably protects against rodents karbofos in the dosage recommended on the package.

Advice! Detected specimens with visible traces of fungal diseases are subject to urgent culling.

Gladiolus: combination with other plants

Needless to say, gladioli are rather capricious flowers both in terms of breeding and in terms of their participation in creating the site design. Too much a large number of gladiolus will make the garden look like a breeding ground, and too few tall, slender plants look very sparse and lonely. It is no coincidence that landscape designers try to avoid the use of gladioli when landscaping.

Gladiolus can be planted in combination with other plants or do a mono-landing

However, experienced professionals, having contacted these majestic representatives of the flora, try to use a few rules for placing gladioli in the garden and combining them with other flowers.

The magnificence of the gladiolus is undeniable: this flower needs no accompaniment. But, since the riot of colors is only short-term, it should be surrounded by those flowers that will delight the eye before and after it blooms. These can be early tulips, tender daffodils, which will be replaced by spectacular peonies, and after the flowering of gladioli ends, hydrangeas will begin to bloom.
You should not plant large dahlias and gladioli nearby, because these are eternal rivals in the colorfulness of flowers. Try to combine undersized (border) dahlias as a companion.
Since single gladiolus bushes do not look good, they are usually planted in bunches of several bulbs in place. At the same time, color solutions should be organically selected: varieties with contrasting colors and various forms petals. No less successful are the compositions of bright and rich colors with soft pastel shades.
It is not recommended to combine small-flowered varieties with large-flowered ones, otherwise the latter will cover all the beauty of small flowers.

The flowerbeds, which combine gladioli of different colors, look very interesting.

However, don’t worry if you don’t get beautiful flower arrangements at first! As you know, experience comes with time, so you will definitely develop your favorite planting patterns that will become a real decoration of the summer garden.

Gladiolus in landscape design

Florists of the world say the following about this beautifully flowering culture: “One gladiolus is like a delicate bouquet of delightful flowers, and the composition of gladiolus creates a whole parade of floral pleasure.” Every year the popularity of this colorful flower is growing in many countries, including ours.

Gladiolus perfectly accentuate the decorative elements in the flower bed

A flower arrangement of various forms and colors of gladioli, fragrant at one time, will fill the backyard with an abundance of majestic plants on elongated and slender peduncles. And it is not at all surprising that talented landscape designers resort to creating picturesque oases from iridescent plants, thereby ennobling the garden plot.

Growing gladioli: video

Varieties of gladiolus: photo

The tuber-bulb flower gladiolus is loved by all flower growers, its varieties are diverse. Gladiolus have unilateral arrow-shaped inflorescences and xiphoid leaves. Flowers are smooth and corrugated. The colors of gladiolus are diverse: from monophonic to two-color. Cultivation of gladioli is carried out most often for cutting, flowering occurs in July-September.

To grow gladioli, you must adhere to the agricultural technology of growing these flowers. Disease often damages the best varieties gladioli.

Gladiolus

Conditions for gladioli

You need to grow flowers in a sunny place, protected from violent winds. The soil they prefer is sandy, loamy with the addition of old humus soil. You can not bring fresh humus or manure for planting gladioli, the bulbs get sick and die from this. Inhibits plants and lime, it is better to replace it with sulfur powder. Below we will write everything you need to know about planting and caring for gladioli in the garden.

Preparing gladiolus bulbs for planting

Before spring planting, gladioli bulbs are carefully peeled and immersed in water for a day at room temperature. Then the bulbs are dried and pickled in formalin, diluted 1:800. The pickling time for large bulbs is 2 hours, and for small ones - up to 1.5 hours. Next, the bulbs are again washed in water and dried.

When to plant gladioli

Planting gladioli is carried out in early spring, when the earth moves away. Slight frosts are not terrible for gladioli.

Planting gladioli in the ground

How to plant gladiolus outdoors

Deep planting of gladiolus bulbs produces very large flowers, and shallow planting produces many babies. When planting large bulbs, the depth is kept at 8-10 cm, between the bulbs we keep 15-20 cm. River sand (1 cm) is poured into the planting hole, gladiolus bulbs are laid and sprinkled with clean sand, but not earth. You can immediately install a peg for tying a flower arrow next to the hole.

Care for gladioli in the garden

Top dressing is applied during the cultivation of gladioli 3-4 times, wood superphosphate and ash are suitable for this. Caring for gladioli consists of loosening the soil and watering.

Watering gladioli

Water gladiolus every week during the growing season - in the morning or in the evening. You need to pour a lot of water, it is better to do this in the furrows, which will first be made a few centimeters from the gladioli. After that, gladioli can be mulched or loosened the soil so that the moisture lasts longer.

Blooming gladiolus

The arrow of the flower is cut without leaves, they will give strength to the development of the bulb, providing it with nutrition. Cut flowers of gladiolus can be in the water for about eleven days, during which time all the buds will bloom in turn.

When to Dig Up Gladiolus

Autumn care for gladiolus

Autumn care for gladioli consists of collecting bulbs and preparing for wintering. The more leaves a plant has, the larger the bulb will be. Peduncles must be cut with a knife disinfected with alcohol, the procedure is repeated with each cut.

We dig up gladioli, preparing for wintering

Gladiolus are dug up last, let a few autumn frosts pass. For this, garden forks with three teeth are suitable. The soil should be slightly damp or dry. Dig carefully so as not to hurt the children. Then excess soil is shaken off the gladioli by lightly tapping on the stem. The stems are cut off, a stump of 3-4 cm should remain, the roots are left. The corms of gladioli are dried upside down on wooden grates.

A day later, the bulbs are disinfected in a weak solution of potassium permanganate (2-3 hours). And again lie down after that until completely dry on the grate. After all the procedures, the stump will easily separate along with the husk from the bulb.

How to store gladioli in winter

Drying is over, now the bulbs are inspected, damaged and diseased are removed.

Storage of gladioli is best done in a dry room at a temperature of 6-7 ºC in wooden boxes. The layer should consist of no more than four rows. Gladiolus bulbs during storage should be inspected every fifteen days. Raw bulbs are dried, and the diseased are removed. Good luck!

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What kind of gladiolus plants will look best on your site?
There are many options for using gladioli in flower beds. The main rule is never to plant these flowers in one copy, they are always planted in a group. Small-colored gladioli, whose height is about 1 meter, are suitable for the garden.
Depending on the area of the proposed flower garden, a certain number of gladiolus bulbs are planted. It is better to plant plants of the same variety in one dense group in order to form bouquet plantings.
A group of gladioli is the basis of the composition, which goes well with plants of a soft texture, this combination is based on contrast. Plants planted next to gladioli are selected according to height. They should be slightly higher than a third of the height of the gladioli. From annual plants, tall ageratums, Drummond's phlox, thin-leaved marigolds, girlish feverfew, zinnia, undersized tobacco and lavater, coreopsis, dimorphoteka, sulfur-yellow cosmos, Merry Fellows dahlias, undersized verbenas and asters, tricolor bindweed, etc.
It is desirable to use sunny areas for planting plants. Among perennials, there are also plants that are combined with gladioli. These are solidago, perennial asters, rue, oregano, undersized anthemis, wormwood, sage, coreopsis, undersized lentils. In addition, bouquet compositions of gladioli are combined with plants with decorative and cereal leaves. Of these, you can use undersized daylilies of early varieties, tall bergenia, undersized hostas.
Such flower beds will look good next to the gazebo or porch. When combining gladioli and hostas, the inflorescences must be removed from the latter.
Not less than effective method using a bouquet planting of gladioli - large-sized mixborders in which gladioli will create an accent for the entire composition for a certain period. In a long and wide mixborder, gladioli are planted in the second and third rows. With a huge variety of varieties of gladioli, you can create special color schemes.
To do this, it is better to use small-flowered undersized forms that do not need to be tied up.
Excellent neighbors for large-flowered gladiolus: gelenium (herbaceous perennial up to 70 cm high); kochia (one-year shrub up to 100 cm high); black cohosh (cimicifuga) (up to 1.5 m high, many peduncles and powerful foliage); lupine; eremurus.
Along the perimeter of the curtain at the bottom, gladioli can be lined with undersized annuals: marigolds, begonias, nasturtium pelargonium. In each case, the selection of plants is determined by the color scheme, which should not violate the overall harmony of the garden.

A flower bed with gladioli can be an ideal option for decorating a personal plot. It is suitable for those who do not want to bother with worries about flowers. Such a flower bed will always look well-groomed and beautiful. You can look at the gladiolus endlessly.

To date, there are more than 165 species of this plant in the world. According to varietal characteristics, these can be divided into 2 large groups:

Household gladioli with different flowering periods, they are much more sensitive to weather conditions.

Classification by size of blossoming buds:

gladioli with miniature flowers;
with small flowers;
with flowers of medium size;
large-flowered;
gigantic.

Gladiolus is that rare plant that looks great regardless of the size of the bud and the number of blossoming flowers. Separately, it is worth noting the diversity of the structure of the petals. They can be smooth, corrugated, fringed and folded. The variety of shades is simply amazing, there are so many of them that it is sometimes difficult to make a choice. Amazing transitions from one tone to another, bright contrasting shades on one petal cause admiration and a desire to admire gladioli for as long as possible. The colors present the whole palette of shades, ranging from the palest to juicy colors.

Depending on the flowering period, you can purchase early varieties, medium early, medium late and late. Gladiolus is one of the flowers that can please with its beauty even in late autumn. You can plant it in almost any lighted corner of the garden.

Planting gladioli and arranging flower beds

In order for a flower bed with gladioli to please the whole season, you need not only to take care of high-quality planting material, but also be patient. It is important to follow all the recommendations of specialists in planting and caring for a plant. Growing gladioli is a fun activity that any gardener will enjoy. It includes:

preparation of flower bulbs for winter storage;
sampling of substandard material;
planting tubers in the soil with the arrival of spring;
thorough regular weeding;
high-quality watering and loosening of the soil;
plant nutrition;
treatment in case of illness;
timely digging up adult flowers for further storage.

Each stage should be carried out in its own time, clearly one after the other. If this cycle is maintained, then the result will be an amazingly beautiful flower bed with gladioli.

If preference is given to unusual colors appearance, then varieties should be selected taking into account the structure of the soil, weather conditions in the region. It is better to choose a large bulb for planting so that the plant acclimatizes faster and pleases with flowering.

Gladiolus grows best in places that are protected from the wind, but open sunshine. Young gladioli are best planted on a hill. This will help to avoid rotting with excess moisture. The composition of the soil should include black soil, a small amount of clay, a little peat or compost.

Preparing for planting, it must be cleaned of scales and well inspected from all sides. Do not plant an onion if it has signs of disease and mechanical damage. Even if it is outwardly clean and healthy, it must first be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate before planting. better in the already warmed earth. The optimum soil temperature at a depth of 15-20 cm should be at least + 8 ° C. Bulbs should be planted at a distance of 10 cm from each other. In order for the buds to appear as early as possible, the soil with the already planted planting material is covered with a film.

How to plant gladioli (video)

We are looking for suitable "companions" in the flower bed

Gladiolus is a rather complex plant in terms of creating flower arrangements. A large number of plants gives the garden a neglected look, and single flowers look dull. However, skillfully combining gladioli with other flowers, you can create compositions of amazing beauty. Surround the gladioli with those flowers that are ready to provide the beauty of the flower bed at any time. These flowers include tulips, daffodils, peonies.

Do not plant gladiolus and dahlias next to each other, they will shade each other. Tall dahlias and undersized plants are successfully combined. To make a flowerbed of gladioli look organic, you can plant several bulbs at the same time. Flowers in contrasting colors look good.

For a flower bed, 3 will be enough different varieties. You should not combine small-flowered and large-flowered plants.

Caring for garden gladiolus

Not less than important process than planting plants is caring for them. In order for gladioli to actively bloom, you should follow some rules of care:

After planting the bulbs, the soil is mulched using sawdust, compost or humus.
Gladiolus should be watered quite often, but taking into account the weather conditions. The recommended watering regimen is 6 times a week. In order to avoid decay and the development of fungal diseases, grooves break through between the rows, where in the future water will be poured during irrigation.
It is important to carry out timely weeding. In the grass, slugs are quite often planted, which have an extremely negative effect on the flowering and growth of the plant.
The plant regularly needs to be fed with mineral fertilizers. Top dressing is best done in small volumes, mixing fertilizer with water. A strong and well-groomed plant will cope better with any diseases.
Cut gladiolus with a sharp knife or secateurs. After the gladiolus has faded, the stems are cut almost to the very root, leaving only a few leaves.

From the moment the first leaves appear, the plant needs high-quality top dressing. Experts advise to adhere to some rules for fertilizing:

After the first leaves (3-4 pieces) have formed on the flower, it is fed with mineral or organic fertilizers with a high nitrogen content. A good option- liquid chicken manure.
With the appearance of 5-6 leaves, the flower begins to be fertilized with mineral fertilizers with a high content of phosphorus or potassium substances.
At the time of formation of inflorescences, the plant is fed with phosphorus-potassium mixtures that stimulate flowering.
During the period of active flowering, gladioli are fertilized with a solution of wood ash.

Because this species The flower belongs to the category of bulbous, then it is bred in 2 ways:

grown from children;
share bulbs.

If there is a desire to plant a flower of a new variety, then do it better way dividing the bulb. It is necessary to carry out the division in such a way that a kidney remains in each new part.

How to plant and store gladioli (video)

How to protect a plant

Experts advise planting gladioli every year in a new place. In the case of a limited area, the following disease prevention measures are carried out:

Disinfect the soil with garlic cloves. It is crushed, laid out over the landing area, then dug up along with the soil. After a few days, the bulbs can be planted in the ground. Such a preventive measure will help protect the plant from infection with fungal diseases.
good remedy from scab pathogens - these are sawdust soaked in a solution of nitrofen. Until the gladiolus has bloomed, it can be treated with a solution of copper oxychloride or a soapy solution.

Experiment, create various compositions of flowers, then over time, the ideal of gladioli will appear on your backyard.