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!

Wow that is a good idea!

Great idea! (You should polish it up and submit it as a gardening idea to the forums here. :D)

I always have planted glads very close together for that reason, it does help them stand up. I've grown them most successfully in containers anyway. But the plant-a-basket idea is neat!

I do that with my Calla Lilies, Tuberose and even some Canna Lilies and Elephant Ears. We put the whole pot in the garage and it becomes survival of the fittest. The EEs have the most problem surviving if the winter is exceptionally cold.

I have never had much luck overwintering tenders potted up. Usually I dig em up (I have Elephant Ear and dahlias, Canna), knock off the dirt, trim away the dead foliage, then pack them in cardboard boxes filled with raked up autumn leaves. I usually wait as late as possible to do this and I usually try to get them back out and either potted or planted as early as i can. i was neglectful this spring and I paid the price: nearly lost my Elephant ears and did lose a number of dahlias.