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Why haven’t these gladioli flowered?
lucie_yuan
Posts: 5
Hello,
Very much hope you can help.
We look after a narrow ‘sweep’ (border) of land that surrounds a public footpath.
Our aim is to create a bright splash of colour that will delight walkers as they approach this section of the footpath.
We planted some lovely West Country lupines in this border earlier in the Spring and they successfully flowered from May-July.
We also planted several gladioli bulbs earlier in the spring in the hope that they would carry on to provide height and colour in late Summer, after the lupines had died down.
However, whilst we seem to have got lots of green leaves - only one of the gladioli produced a flower.
See photo.
Not sure why these gladioli haven’t flowered - first thought was perhaps that there is not enough sunlight - but the lupines flowered well, so not sure.
Or perhaps because this is only the first year?
It’s a real shame as we want this ‘sweep’ to look really pretty and colourful.
Would very much appreciate any thoughts as to what we can do/should be doing with these gladioli.
Or, if you think these are unlikely to work, what might we do instead?
Chalky soil: the border is surrounded by a hedge in one side but there is reasonable light.
Thank you!
Very much hope you can help.
We look after a narrow ‘sweep’ (border) of land that surrounds a public footpath.
Our aim is to create a bright splash of colour that will delight walkers as they approach this section of the footpath.
We planted some lovely West Country lupines in this border earlier in the Spring and they successfully flowered from May-July.
We also planted several gladioli bulbs earlier in the spring in the hope that they would carry on to provide height and colour in late Summer, after the lupines had died down.
However, whilst we seem to have got lots of green leaves - only one of the gladioli produced a flower.
See photo.Not sure why these gladioli haven’t flowered - first thought was perhaps that there is not enough sunlight - but the lupines flowered well, so not sure.
Or perhaps because this is only the first year?
It’s a real shame as we want this ‘sweep’ to look really pretty and colourful.
Would very much appreciate any thoughts as to what we can do/should be doing with these gladioli.
Or, if you think these are unlikely to work, what might we do instead?
Chalky soil: the border is surrounded by a hedge in one side but there is reasonable light.
Thank you!
0
Posts
If the soil is moist but well-drained I suggest you try alstroemerias in that spot. They will give late season flowers and narrow foliage and be happy in partial shade. Otherwise, try penstemons which can be left iin the ground, unlike gladioli which are a bit tender, and will come back year after year and from which you can also take easy cuttings to increase your stock.