I have never had much luck with Gladiolus in the garden, they usually look so sparse and topple over and just seem somehow out of place. I came across this tip and I'm going to try it next year.
You plant a bunch of glads in a plastic basket (the person giving the tip recommended buying a basket like you use to plant water lilies etc in a pond, but I am thinking of using one of those cheap plastic dollar store baskets (small)). He suggested really cramming them in there, for instance, about a dozen bulbs in a basket maybe 1 square foot in size. Use good potting soil. then he buried the basket up to the rim in the garden. When the glads came up, they were in a big luscious bunch and only needed a piece of twine around the whole bunch to keep them upright. Plus, at the end of the season, you can lift the whole basket out, knock off the excess dirt and store the glads for next year.
I'm going to try this and I'll let you know how it works!
