I love gladiolas but…

They are boring before they bloom.

They bloom for only a short time.

They fall over when it rains.

When they are done blooming they are messy.

I have tried really hard to accommodate them this year.

In their defense, I did make the mistake of planting them on a hill.

I did plant them in a row, when I usually do groupings.

So these were my mistakes.

I did do some things right.

I staggered the planting times by two weeks.

They are deer resistant, so they have not been snacked on like my hostas and daylilies.

I chose colors that I thought would complement each other.

I also developed a new colorful way of staking them using giant pick-up sticks painted green with recycled glass balls on the ends, to prevent impalement as I weed them.

I planted groups of Acidanthera/Gladiolus callianthus on the ends of the rows to extend bloom time. (These have not bloomed, yet.)

But in the end, they were a flop.

Figuratively and literally.

Another disappointment was the colors in a package named ‘Mardi Gras’.

What should have been a festive mix turned out to be two colors, fuschia and white.  Clunk!

The only reasons I haven’t written the company yet are I lost the package and the whites had purple stamens. I love purple, so they are keepers.

They other package of  ‘Pricilla’ was lovely.

I will dig these corms up and haul them in for the winter,

but there will be a whole new plan next year.

Follow the FLOWER’s flops.