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‘Flaming Surprise’ main item image
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‘Flaming Surprise’ Gladiolus

bulbs
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$14.50
Item: 7843-A
$26.00
Item: 7843-B
Gladiolus

4-5' tall. The surprise is in the highly contrasted blooms, some a warm golden peach, others in moody hues of dark scarlet and crimson, velvety purple, nearly black. The stunning combo will stop your garden guests in their tracks.

Showy summer bloomer excels as a cutflower. Each stalk is covered with 10 or more open funnel-shaped flowers that bloom from bottom to top. Plant successions weekly to extend bloom season through the summer. 

See Additional Information tab below for detailed growing instructions.

NEW!
ships in spring
Additional Information

Gladiolus

Showy summer bloomer excels as a cutflower. Each stalk is covered with 10 or more open funnel-shaped flowers that bloom from bottom to top. Named for their sword-like leaves; a gladiolus is a small Roman sword. Each stalk blooms for about a week, roughly 8 weeks after planting.

Growing Gladiolus

Soil: Prefers moist well-drained soil. Mulch to retain moisture and suppress weeds.

Sun: Full

Spacing: 5" deep, 8" apart, after danger of frost.

Planting schedule: Stagger plantings for a long season of blooms: First planting in early to mid-May, then again every two weeks through mid June. This will keep the flowers coming July through August.

Harvest: Hill or stake to keep plants from keeling over when flower spikes get top heavy. Cut when 2–3 blossoms have opened, taking care to spare the leaves, which feed the developing corm.

Overwintering: Dig corms after the tops have died, discard the old one, clean the new one, allow it to dry off, and store in paper bags in a well-ventilated cool (35–45°) dark dry place.

Tender Summer Bulbs

Spring-planted bulbs offer wonderful variety to the cutflower market and are a staple in old-fashioned gardens. The bulbs we offer here are (mostly) not hardy to northern winters. Smart and thrifty people lift and store them over the winter; the rest of us treat them as annuals.

Shipping

Items from our perennial plants warehouse ship from early March through mid-to-late May, weather depending, beginning with warmer USDA zones.