For May, 1921 



Late Tulips on May Day 



FRANK B. MEYER 



IT was hard this year, during the closing days of April 

 with their cold showers, to work up enough enthu- 

 siasm to plan a long trip to displays of late tulips at 

 the extremely early date of May 1. Nor was my mood 

 made more pleasurable when the day dawned through 

 dark skies from which poured down chilling rains, but 

 so great was the lure that the journey was begun. 



Little Falls (,N. J.j itself is delightful, for it is made 

 attractive by cascades and streams of water crossed by 

 picturesque bridges. The moisture in its air and the lo- 

 cation of the garden in rather low ground, coursed by a 

 little canal, have made conditions quite congenial for the 

 flowers always thought of in connection with the canals 

 and dykes of Holland. But ^layfair has been made worth 

 visiting by art also. The problem of making a good 

 display of many varieties, and of having the setting and 

 the garden as a whole pleasant without spreading the 

 display over an area tiresome to traverse, has been very 

 happily solved. Dotted among borders of shrubs, whose 

 blossoms, bright green leaves, and gay flowers furnish 

 the proper foil of color, are a number of gardens, or 

 diminutive parks, connected by aisles and paths that lead 

 invitingly. 



The weather has been quite unkind, however, and 

 nearly all the flowers, which, had conditions been more 

 propitious, would have presented charming pictures, as 

 a whole and in each little part, had to be studied through 

 the aid of the imagination. Most of the strongest and 

 very stalwart Darwins had bowed ; some had actually 

 succumbed. But the colors made evident the good taste 

 displayed in devising the most effective combinations. 

 In my coveting such a faculty, it was comforting to have 

 Mr. Hunt assure me that if the glaring reds were re- 

 moved, one could hardl)' err in arranging late tulips. 

 Without the aid of contrast or combination, some varie- 

 ties would appear fine anywhere and always. Gryphus, 

 the Darwin, a handsome and brilliant dark purple-violet, 

 tall and graceful, was one of these, even though lacking 

 the enhancement of its colors through the sunlight on 

 this gloomy May day, so essential to the best effects with 

 tulips. Faust, still darker, of satiny purple-maroon, was 

 another. IMuch lighter of hue, with its dusky and yet 

 silvery lavender, was Olifant. Splendidly rich was La 

 Tulipe Noire, even though the sun was not brightening 

 its velvety sheen. Regal always must be Louis XIV, a 

 breeder that with its immense size and globular form is 

 pre-emienent in the company of the finest Darwins. It 

 is pronounced, and fittingly, I think, "the most wonderful 

 tulip in existence." Its dark purple flushed with bronze 

 and broadly margined with golden bronze, causes every- 

 one beholding it to go into ecstacies. With similar com- 

 bination, but of purple much darker and almost black, is 

 James Watt, a new aristocrat of smaller size. With 

 more brown, of golden hue flushed with purple, of form 

 rather loose, but stately, is Prince .\Ibert. Charles 

 Dickens, a dark crimson-rose, large and of egg-shape, 

 gives in color and form an easy transition to the Cottage 

 tulips of wider range in both form and color. 



The prize would be awarded, by perhajis every judge, 

 to Sir Harry, of lovely lavender-pink and eft'ective yel- 

 low base and blue halo. It associates magnificently and 

 amicably with the soft creamy yellows. B.ut the dec]) 

 golden yellow, supreme in loveliness, was found in Wal- 

 ter T. Ware. Zomerschon. too. was bearing out its 

 reputation for beautiful form, clean white with exf|ui- 



sitely neat feathering of cherry-pink. But nearly as 

 attractive, and not altogether dissimilar to this costly old 

 beauty was Pride of Inglescombe of the type of Picotee. 

 Other notable ones, less expensive, were clcgans alba, 

 The Fawn, Mrs. Moon, Gcsneriana, lutea pallida, and 

 Fairy Oueen. 



Among the rare and novel kinds, the one worthy of 

 being singled out, was the "lily-flowered" tulip. Siren. 

 I must confess that even its form was to me not alto- 

 gether pleasing, while the coloring would be more satis- 

 factory if it were clearer and not so speckled with white. 



Actually the most delightful part of the exhibition to 

 me were the oddly striped and feathered Bybloems and 

 Bizarres of beautiful shapes, and an especially pleasing 

 arrangement was that of a dusky quartet composed of 

 Lady Stanley, La Victorieuse, La Duel and L'Union. 

 Of lighter markings, in lovely violet, was Vondel, while 

 Roi des Cerises caught my fancy, with its bright red on 

 white blooms shaped most exquisitely. 



To ride to the extreme northerly end of New York 

 City for the Botanical Garden would have seriously tried 

 my patience. Had I not anticipated seeing the largest 

 and grandest massing of late-blooming tulips ever 

 assembled on this side of the Atlantic. It required 

 some time to take in the color and the forms of over 

 thirty-two thousand, eight hundred blooms, representing 

 over three hundred twenty-three varieties ! Such an 

 opportunity is rare indeed. But it is to be hoped that in 

 spite of its not having been availed of this first time by 

 large numbers of people, partly because of the earliness 

 of the display and partly because of the unusual condi- 

 tions of the weather, this treat will be repeated by the 

 house of John Scheepers, Inc., New York, and the Gen- 

 eral Bulb Growers' Association of Haarlem, Holland. 



The sight of the winding borders of flowers with its 

 setting of green was alone worth coming to enjoy. 

 Though not so artistically arranged as at Mayfair, the 

 i^eneral effect of the large masses was thrillingly pleas- 

 ant. The dullness of the day made less noticeable what 

 might, under a bright sky have appeared to be a lack, 

 for the large majority of the blooms were of the more 

 pronounced colorings, the intense reds and purples, set 

 off only occasionally by a bright mass of yellgw, with 

 the softer yellows, creams and light pinks but few. All 

 were in perfect form for frost and wind and storm had 

 not been so inclement as in northern New Jersey. 



Most splendid of all were the dark rich purples among 

 the Darwins — King Harold, with its ox-blood red and 

 darker base, and Whistler of clear crimson overspread 

 with bloom of purple tinge, very showy, .\mong the 

 most striking purples was Zanzibar, a shiny maroon- 

 black with bhie and white base, and The Sultan, a com- 

 jiaratively small flower, remarkable because of its rich 

 maroon-black. Zulu, an especial favorite of mine, I have 

 never seen ajipearing to better advantage, while the more 

 familiar Philippe de Commines was finer than ever, a 

 variety that will never be supplanted ; La Tulipe Noire 

 showed the remarkably dark maroon-black without the 

 velvety sheen usually made so brilliant by the sunlight. 

 Andre Doria was fine in its .satiny texture of petals of 

 rich maroon. Others of the conspicuously beautiful 

 Darwins of blood-red shade were King Harold, Eclipse 

 and Diana : of more crimson or scarlet hue the finest were 

 Bartigon, Farncombe .Sanders, City of Haarlem, and. of 

 {Continued on page 579) 



