88 NKBRASKA STATE HORTU'lJLTdRAl. SOCIETY. 



combiuations during Ltie summer and autumn. Among the leading kinds 

 are gladioli, dahlias, cannas. tuberoses, and several of the amaryllis 

 family. They may safely be planted about corn-planting time, and 

 any good garden soil is suitable, although cannas are partial to a very 

 rich soil, and must have it, and plenty of moisture, to be at their best. 

 If you are not growing summer-flowering bulbs you are not living uu 

 to your opportunities and privileges as a Nebraskan. 



Hardy bulbs are best planted in October. They do not require a 

 very rich soil, and are easily cared for. After planting, it is well to 

 cover the beds with leaves, straw or coarse litter, which should be re- 

 moved early in the spring. After blooming they may be taken up 

 and stored in dry soil, or they may be left in the beds year after year. 

 Hardy bulbs are especially useful for outdoor planting as they bloom 

 at a time when the yard and garden are utterly bare and destitute. 



They make a cheerful display in early spring when flowers are 

 most needed, and a few of them will transform an otherwise bare, bleak 

 yard into a veritable bit of Eden. Crocuses, snowdrops and scillas 

 appear as soon as the snow is gone or the frost is out, and are followed 

 by jonquils, tulips, narcissus, hyacinths, Lily of the Valley, etc. Thes'^ 

 and many others are perfectly hardy and may stay in the ground from 

 year to year, producing an abundance of chastely beautiful and exqui? 

 itely fragrant flowers, and eventually forming large clumps that musl 

 be divided to continue to do well. The hyacinth is an exception, rarely 

 blooming freely more than three or four years in Nebraska. They, 

 however, are so sweetly perfumed, so delicately beautiful, and sure 

 to bloom, that we can well afford to plant anew each year. 



In fact, it pays to plant some of the hardy bulbs every yeai\ for it 

 seems impossible ever to have too many, and they succeed so well they 

 always exceed our expectations and are a continual source of surprise 

 and pleasure. We might mention many other bulbs that are hardy and 

 beautiful, including several kinds of lilies, but while many of these are 

 simply magnificent, and well repay the little extra care they require 

 for best development, yet as they do not succeed at all times, in all 

 hands, under all sorts of conditions, it seems better to omit them and 

 recommend only those that do well for everyone, at all times, undei- 

 almost all conditions. 



The last class, bulbs for winter blooming in the house, is perhaps 

 the 'nost important of all. from the florist's standpoint. Practically all 

 of the hardy, and many of the tender bulbs respond readily to house 

 culture in winter, but there are a few that are so easily cared for and 

 so sure to flower freely, that failure with them is almost impossible. 

 Perhaps the best known and most popular of these is the Giant .Var 

 cissus, or Chinese Sacred Lily. It blooms equally well in soil or water, 

 three to five weeks after planting, and when done flowering may be 

 throv.n out, as it is useless for fufther forcing. Others of the narcissus 

 family that always do well are Paper White, Rugulosus. Emperor. Von 



