Zanthan Gardens
Plant Highlights: Gladiolus ‘Flevo Bambino’

June 4th, 2005
Gladiolus ‘Flevo Bambino’

2005-06-02. Gladiolus ‘Bambino Flevo’

I don’t know why I haven’t been a big fan of gladiolus before, unless maybe it’s their movie association with mobsters’ funerals. Last year, the photos in the Dutch Garden catalog seduced me into buying some Flevo gladiolus, which are smaller and more compact than normal. And now I’m hooked. They bloom along with the cannas and other heat and water-loving tropicals. Now that I’ve devoted a special plot to all my high-consumption plants, I don’t mind doting on them.

I was surprised how pretty they are. Has anyone every described a gladiolus as “delicate”?

Nursery Description. “Creamy, pale yellow blooms deocrated with soft rose. Plant 4 to 5 inches deep and 5 to 6 inches apart. Full sun. Height 22-28 inches.” Souce: Dutch Gardens.

Tags: gladiolus, flower, bulb, garden.

Garden History

Dateline: 2004-03-17
Planted Gladiolus ‘Bambino Flevo’ in front bed near Souvenir de la Malmaison. Two groups of five each between lavender clumps. I bought these corms from Dutch Gardens.

Dateline: 2004-10-27
Dug these up. There are five big ones. 13 medium ones and 20 cormels.

Dateline: 2005-03-05
Replanted in the same place after digging a hole and filling it with fresh-sifted compost. No bulb food available, so I will have to water them with fertilizer when they come up.

Dateline: 2005-10-04
Dug these up. 18 large or medium sized one. They look large and in good shape. The ground was hard, dry and not at all friable.

Dateline: 2006-03-10
Replanted 18 corms in the same place in front of ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’. When I laid the new paths, I put some of the decomposed granite from the old paths into the flower beds. With the addition of leaf mulch, the ground seems very friable now.

Dateline: 2006-08-26
Dug up 14 corms only one medium. The others quite small. I waited too long to dig them this year. The leaves had gone brown even though it’s much earlier than last year. Some corms were rotting. Because of our hot, dry spring none bloomed this year despite my having planted so many healthy looking corms.

Dateline: 2007-03-31
Replant 13 corms in the northeast corner of the west square by the sweet peas and California poppies. Only one looks like it might be of flowering size. This is really a half-hearted attempt because my first impulse was to throw them out during spring cleaning.

Dateline: 2008-02-04
Notice that the gladioli are sprouting. None flowered last year and I was going to dig them up and throw them out. I never got around to it and now they’re sprouting.

by M Sinclair Stevens