Glads for hardiness

Ellen Hornig hornig@usadatanet.net
Tue, 06 Mar 2007 09:17:34 PST
I've had Gladiolus oppositiflorus ssp. salmoneus in the garden for at least 10 years (perched in the rock garden), and have had to dig and divide the clump a few times because of overcrowding.  I also have G. saundersii, which is terribly floppy but blooms fine - just needs much leaner conditions.  Like Jim Waddick, I have various old "primulinus" types, i.e. old G. dalenii farmhouse hybrids, G. "byzantinus" of southern gardens (is that really the true species?), and my little Turkish collection from Euroseeds whose name I do not yet know, but it's darling and early-blooming.  In pots, I have other summer-rainfall species: G. elliottii , G. flanaganii, G. ecklonii (including a lovely unspeckeld rosy pink form from Silverhill - though I really do love the speckled ones at least as much), G. dalenii, G. permeabilis, and something received as G. ochroleucus which bloomed heavily this year and is, I think, the coastal form of G. oppositiflorus.  And there are others - but that's what comes to mind from memory.  

I've been surprised by how well the species glads do here, in the sense that I have no trouble getting them to bloom once they're old enough (and from seed, that can be easily 4-5 years for some species).  I assume it's our relatively cool summers (usually only 1-3 days over 90F) and consistently comfortable summer nights.

Of course, what I really lust after are the winter-rainfall species, but with all the snow we get, not to mention our northerly latitude, winter greenhouses just don't offer enough light for anything other than cyclamen and Arum italicum.

Ellen

Ellen Hornig
Seneca Hill Perennials
3712 County Route 57
Oswego NY 13126 USA
USDA Zone 5 (w/snow cover)
Phone: 315-342-5915
Fax: 315-342-5573
Website: http://www.senecahillperennials.com/



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