Gladiolus 'Robinetta' (_recurvus_ hybrid)

• 
  The RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM) helps gardeners choose the best plants for their garden.
• RHS Plants for Pollinators plants

  This plant will provide nectar and pollen for bees and the many other types of pollinating insects.

  It is included in an evolving list of plants carefully researched and chosen by RHS experts. Divided into 3 groups these lists, linked below, are maintained by a team of RHS staff and are reviewed annually.

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Cultivation

Grow gladioli in fertile, well-drained soil in full sun. Plant corms 10-16cm deep in spring. If the soil is not perfectly drained, plant the corms on a bed of sand. When the flower spikes reach one third to half their final height, feed with a potassium-rich fertiliser such as a tomato feed. Repeat every 10-14 days until three weeks after flowering. In areas where there is frost, lift the corms when the foliage has turned yellow-brown. Snap the stem off the corms and dry the corms off for 14 days and keep the new corms dry and frost-free until planting time

Propagation

Separate cormlets when lifting in autumn

Suggested planting locations and garden types

• City and courtyard gardens
• Cottage and informal garden
• Coastal
• Patio and container plants
• Flower borders and beds
• Cut flowers

Pruning

Snap off old stems from the corms when lifting them for winter storage

Pests

May be susceptible to gladiolus thrip, aphids and slugs

Diseases

May be susceptible to gladiolus corm rot, grey moulds (Botrytis), Fusarium bulb rot, gladiolus core rot, gladiolus dry rot, gladiolus scab and neck rot, fungal leaf spot, and virus diseases