Stakes for Gladiolas

[Denis Mitchel]

I would like to find a source for inexpensive metal stakes to support my gladiolas.

Can anyone direct me to a good source on line?

Thanks

[Bill]

[brooklyn1]

Most any plant nursery or hardware emporium will sell bundles of thin bamboo stakes... you can buy them on line but with shipping they'll likely cost twice as much.

[Bill R]

I use the bamboo sticks and I buy them at the local dollar store (Dollar Tree). A 25 pack of the two foot stakes costs $1.

[bungadora]

I plant my glads in clumps and then put a tomato cage over them - the cages are generally useless for tomatoes anyway and a lot less work than tying all those glads to stakes.

Dora

[brooklyn1]

I plant my glads in clumps and then put a tomato cage over them - the cages are generally useless for tomatoes anyway and a lot less work than tying all those glads to stakes.

Nowhere does it say that one must use one separate bamboo stake for each separate bloom... a couple three stakes with some sort of green ribbon can support many blooms, and will be essentially invisible... much more aesthetically pleasing in a flower garden than grotesquely hidious torturous looking tomato cages.. why would anyone equate beautification with an iron maiden..

[D. Arlington]

Why use metal when the dark green and brown bamboo stakes last for years and are quite cheap. I get them at Dollar General or BigLots for a few bucks a package. I wish they'd breed a glad' that stood up by itself when in bloom.

[brooklyn1]

There are shorter varietys (-24") as averse to the giants (36"-60"), but perhaps some may think not as spectacular.

[bungadora]

So I have kinky flowers? OK. I can live with that.

I also grow plants around the outside. You can hardly see the cages, which are on the small side. Dora

[brooklyn1]

That's known as selective vision, you choose not to see, but be well assured that others see them immediately. Wire cages are okay in the typical veggie garden but are a detractant in a flower bed. Last few years I haven't been replacing my worn out wire tomato cages, bamboo stakes and a ball of inexpensive sisal twine work just as well. Bamboo stakes cost much less, are far easier to storage, last a long time (several years, and by nipping off the rotted end they're still utile), and being of natural plant material are invisible amongst the plants unless one knows exactly where to look. Bamboo is also readily available in various lengths and diameters, and bamboo is always inexpensive... I can buy over a hundred quality bamboo stakes for the price of one wire cage. Wire cages are the first thing one sees, they stick out like a black thumb.

[bungadora]

Well that's OK then, because I garden for my own pleasure, not other people's. Unlike you, obviously. Dora

[Bill]

I'm reminded of the guy who investigated the Challenger disaster. Richard Feyman. He wrote a book "What do you care what someone else thinks". My garden is a labor of love and is living art. Every day it is different if I pay attention. Some call this mindful I call it gardening. I can't hire someone to do it for me as there are too many nuances that bring it to life . If outside and inside are the same then litter must be picked up and plant life protected. Plus

Small plant showed yesterday One I split apart now three Cost nothing just desire

More seems the issue Then It is time to give away

Bill

[brooklyn1]

Nothing wrong with that, I do a lot to please those I care about, unlike you not everyone is totally self absorbed... when was the last time you pleased anyone other than yourself, probably never. If you have sex like you garden you never have sex... you're one of those gals I see in Lowes checkout with Coppertop D cells in the super economy pack. LOL

[bungadora]

So you work in the Lowes checkout then? So fulfilling.

[bungadora]

Thank you for bringing this to a higher level Bill. Inner growth through attention to detail. I can get that - a good thought. Dora

[brooklyn1]

So you work in the Lowes checkout then? So fulfilling.

Nope, I never worked at Lowes, but I shop there just like many others... perhaps it was at Home Depot where I saw you with a cart load of D cells. LOL

See what I mean about "selective vision" and "self absorbed"... applies to you perfectly... none are so blind/narrow minded as those who will not see. You know darn well you see your wire cages and think they're ugly, you are just too dishonest to admit it.

[Billy]

First it's Christians, and now black thumbs? You need more than a name change, Shelly. A brain transplant would be more like it.

And who put you in charge of esthetis, hmmmm? Coloribus gustibus non disputatum, period.

[bungadora]

Sorry. Don't care. I think I will do something more interesting than reading you now. Like cleaning the oven. Dora

[Billy]

If it's that, or going home with you, Shelly (AAA), they probably think it is a good investment. Having trouble with your forest petunia? heh, heh.

[brooklyn1]

To think thusly it's you who are the bigot, obviously.

And can't you grow up and use an adult name... the childish nickname"Bill" for William would be bad enough, but Billy... widdle Billy, is that what your mommy calls you, you infantile BIGOT!