Gladiolus Murmansk - no flowers?

LornaP

I planted some Gladiolus Murmansk in spring towards the back of a west facing border. All I got were leaves and not a single flower spike. Any ideas on what I did wrong, and is it worth digging them up, storing them over winter and trying somewhere else? I know they weren't in full sun, but they are such tall plants they would look odd at the front of the border.

Fairygirl

Not something I grow, but unless you're in a very warm area, you'll probably need to lift them as most Gladioli aren't hardy in the UK. 
The site should have been fine for them. They do need plenty of food and water though, so if they went short of water, in particular, that could have affected them. Not enough of the right food is often a reason for poor flowering in all sorts of plants. 

The size of the bulb/corm is often a factor too - small bulbs aren't mature enough to flower, or flower well, so if they weren't from a reputable seller, that may be the reason. 

LornaP

Thanks Fairygirl. I'm in Berkshire, so a reasonably warm part of the country, but we did have a very dry summer. I thought they were a reputable seller (not sure if appropriate to name them here) but I bought 7 different types of summer flowering bulbs from them and only 4 types flowered.

Fairygirl

I'd suspect that's the growing conditions then - and just not enough moisture to get flowering buds developed and into bloom. It's not uncommon   

LornaP

Following on a year later - I dug them up and moved them to a sunnier spot by south facing wall and of course we had much more rain this year. They have flowered beautifully.

JoeX

LornaP said:

Following on a year later - I dug them up and moved them to a sunnier spot by south facing wall and of course we had much more rain this year. They have flowered beautifully.

That’s interesting - I also had Murmansk delivered last spring and nothing came up this year.  Maybe I’ll try moving them in autumn.

LornaP

When I dug them up I then stored in a box in the garage over winter and planted in the spring, as not sure if they are hardy enough to survive over winter

JoeX

LornaP said:

When I dug them up I then stored in a box in the garage over winter and planted in the spring, as not sure if they are hardy enough to survive over winter

Same here, put them back in the ground late spring (I think) in basically the same location. Couldn’t be sunnier but the blades didn’t even come up so…

Im curious now, maybe I’ll dig them up just to see if they rooted at all.

Fairygirl

Were they mature bulbs though @JoeX? That's what I asked in an earlier post. Immature bulbs often don't perform well. They also benefit from feeding while dying back, before storing. 
The site and the growing conditions are the main reasons for lack of performance though. 

JoeX

Yes, like Lorna they flowered in their first season in my garden, 2020. Nothing at all this year.

Must be something wrong with the new hole they went in - quite a lot of bulbs so unlikely a bulb problem I suppose and only about a meter from last years location.  It’s clay soil, and I’m trying to remember if I put in compost or not this time…

I just found one measely set of small blades 😅. I was hoping to get a ring of them around the large urn this year, with the long grass around that.

Fairygirl

I can't see them thriving among all that grass.