Greetings! It has been a long time since I have written to you all, and I am more than a little rusty! Today's big news is that my new gladiolus bulbs have arrived from the Old Bulbs Gazette and have been planted – more or less.
I say that because some critter has been digging up the corms and I keep replanting them. At first, I thought the squirrels were the culprits but since I installed a new dog who likes to bark at birds, little animals, and other dogs over the fence, they have not been around! I have realized that the squirrels have gone to other yards with no dogs around! But what or who can I blame? The holes dug are not triangular so that discounts the skunks who roam in the evenings. Oh well, I just put those corms back into the soil.
I like gladiolus for their colors and the little to no care they receive from me. I buy from the Old Bulbs people as they have colorful varieties that I cannot buy through nurseries and the big box stores since this company stocks bulbs, corms, and plants from years ago. The varieties I bought this year include bi-color spikes of flowers first introduced in the mid- 1970's.
The corms blooming right now are a variety that lost its information stick years ago, but the flowers are a bright dark shrimp color – just the thing to admire from inside the house on those hot days. It just looks funny as they are sharing a pot with a large 2-foot-tall succulent; the spikes look as though they are growing from the succulent.
Among my favorite corms are Gladiolus communis ssp. Byzantinus from southern Europe. These corms were the first I bought as I was intrigued by the white flowers with the jagged blotches of red. I l originally thought they were little gaudy for my taste, but they grew so easily and come back every year, so they got to stay. Now I go for the bi-colors and those that are oddly colored such as green.
Other than the gladiolus, we are putting in our deck railings to help folks remember where the steps down AND are not. That will be the end of the hardscaping in the back yard and then on to permanent weed control (I hope).
Enjoy the summer weather and remember all the advice about heat and sun!