Unlike other kinds of flowers, gladiolus take up very little space in your garden. You can plant one dozen or several dozen bulbs in a row, or group them in clusters for a massed effect. A small area devoted to gladiolus can produce a bounty of beautiful blooms. "Glads" grow from corms (bulb-like structures) that are not winter-hardy in the colder parts of the country. They must either be dug in September and stored until planting time the following May, or replaced annually. Some gladiolus experts recommend treating them as annuals because you are more likely to get large, healthy blooms each year that way, and you don't have to fuss with storing them.

Planting Layout
If you are growing glads primarily for cut flowers, you may want to plant them in rows, as you would vegetables. It is easier to prepare the area, stake and tend the plants, and harvest flower stalks when they grow in neat rows. Glads can also be used to provide color in annual beds and borders, though they are very stiff and upright and a bit awkward to work with. Plant gladioli in groups of seven or more corms of the same variety for best effect.
Planting instructions: Gladioli will grow in any good garden soil but do need full sun and good drainage. Plant 4" deep in clay soils, 6" deep in others; the deeper the planting the less need for staking. Stake for best appearance and straightest stems. Space planting times at two week intervals from ealy spring to late June to ensure a continuation of mid and late summer blooms. Increase water and fertilizer when flowers begin to develop.