very glad

veryglad
Originally uploaded by Aunt Owwee

So I had this idea to plant 500 glads this season, increase by 500 each year, and then when I hit retirement I'd be u p to about 5000 glads and I could sell the blooms at farmers' markets and pay for my gardening hobby.

My garden started late, so I planted only 300. The soil is good out here, and I'm used to just sticking stuff in the ground and voila!

Well, voila happened, as the corms all produced plants. But as budding season started I noticed a problem. (I'm slow.) The buds weren't unfurling in the normal way of glads. They were just poofy blobs of color, or they didn't open at all. What to do?

Well, go to the internet of course. One of the first things that popped up was that glads were prone to thrips, a tiny bug that caused the symptoms I was seeing. A trip to the garden center, and I found all sorts of sprays that would combat thrips. (Doesn't that sound made-up???)

Two weeks later, and it appears the tide is turning. Harvested 25 wonderful blooms this weekend, with many more coming. Now if we can just hold out on a heavy frost!!!!