How to Store Gladiola Flowers

Gladiola flowers grow from corms; their botanical name is Gladiolus. They are hardy in USDA plant zones 9 to 11. In colder zones plant gladiola flowers below the frost line or lift them and bring indoors for the winter. Plant gladiola corms four times their depth in in well-drained soil. Grow them in full sun. Gladiola have large colorful flowers that grow from one central stem. Most of the gladiola grown in gardens are hybrids specifically bred for their large showy flowers.

Spade
Pruning shears
Cardboard box
Vermiculite

Instructions

- 1
  Dig gladiola flower corms out of the garden in fall, before frost.
- 2
  Cut off the dying foliage and flowers and toss them onto the compost.
- 3
  Divide the gladiola corms. They grow babies, tiny cormlets, that can be replanted next spring to grow into new full-sized corms that eventually produce flowers.
- 4
  Bury the gladiola corms in a cardboard box filled with vermiculite. Vermiculite dries out the corms preventing them from rotting.
- 5
  Store the box of corms in a heated basement or shed, or anywhere where the temperature stays above freezing for the winter.
- 6
  Replant gladiola corms outside in the garden the following spring after all danger of frost has passed.

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