My Gladiolus Brings All the Boys to the Yard

So these gladiolus bulbs were on clearance at Walmart and I figured they would be crappy because they came in a big yellow box from China. No offense to China but that seems like a long way for bulbs to travel. I don't really understand how bulbs work so they may not even know they are traveling or Chinese. 

So anyway, I bought two boxes of 100 (because if you are going to plant one, you might as well plant them all) for $6 and then I planted them all over the gardens. I thought a few might come up and add some color but mostly I just wanted to see what kind of quality the Walmart bulbs were. We now have 200 gorgeous gladiolus flowering at the beginning of September which actually works out perfectly because everything else is dying off. Just these tall, beautiful, flowers randomly popping up among the dead peony bushes. I wish I would have planted more. Like a giant gladiolus field! And planted them earlier in the year. I guess that says a lot for clearance bulbs from Walmart. They do require staking though or they fall over because their heads are so big. I also had a few that I had to dig up and plant deeper because they fell over before they even bloomed. This is where reading directions BEFORE you plant comes in really handy. It literally said on the box how far to bury them but I thought it was logical that if I planted them closer to the surface they would get more sunshine and bloom faster. 

I feel like I always want to HATE Walmart (because it is trendy to hate big box retailers; like I should be wearing a Carmen Sandiego disguise kit when I shop there) but they are just so convenient and cheap and I don't know anywhere else on the planet that you can get 200 bulbs for $6. I'd also suggest that you just sit down on the ground and just kind of drag yourself through the gardens if you decide to plant 200 bulbs of anything. I think I was actually laying down at one point and we have really pliable soil. I'm pretty sure my back still hasn't recovered. #gladiolusinjury I'll update you later when our entire yard has become a magical gladioulous field. Which probably wont happen since fall is quickly approaching. 

PS - I'd also like to point out that I wrote this entire post and did not once spell gladiolus correctly. Thank the lord for spell check.