696 



GARDENERS' CHROMCLE 



Bulbs for Fall Planting 



BERTHA BERBERT-HAMMOND 



MORE gardens would b^ resplendent with pleasure 

 giving Spring flowers, if the fact were more gen- 

 erallf understood or recollected that in order to 

 enjoy a Spring display of many of the most beautiful and 

 desirable flowers, plantings of the various bulbs must be 

 made during the Autumn. Fall bulbs may be planted 

 any time according to the variety and the locality from 

 August to late in December, and tulips may be success - 

 fuliy planted on top of the ground, if soil to cover them 

 several inches deep, topped with a mulch, is provided. 

 Such late planted tulips bloom equally as well, though 

 later, as those which were planted earlier in the usual 

 manner. 



Perhaps the most desirable of the hardy bulbs are the 

 choice varieties of lilies wdiich are of easy culture. They 

 should be planted from six to eight inches deep in a 

 bed of fine sand. With the exception of the Madonna 

 Lily (candidum) which should be planted in August. 

 most lilv bulbs may be set out during October and No- 

 vember.' A bed of lilies is sure to be exquisite and charm- 

 ing in the blooming- season when 



c Frozen — they burst to life 



To Nature's minstrelsy, 

 A resurrection type 

 Of immortality. 

 They neither toil nor spin, 

 Exist without a care, 

 On earth there is no king 

 With garb so chaste and rare. 



—N. R. Glass. 



The Golden Bearded Lily {auratum), a large, fragrant, 

 ivory-white, crimson spotted flower with a yellow band 

 on each petal is a magnificent variety, and the fragrant 

 snow-white candidum. or Annunciation lily, cannot be 

 surpassed for beauty, purity and stately habit of growth. 



The free blooming handsome spcciosnm lilies, the bril- 

 liant coral red tcunifoliitni, and the rare Hansonii or 

 yellow Martagon lilv, are excellent varieties to plant. The 

 varieties of LUhtm clegans with their attractive tulip- 

 shaped flowers mav be used for garden, and also for forc- 

 ing, purposes. Some of the native species, like the bell- 

 shaped canadcnse. supcrhum, (Turk's cap) and phdadcl- 

 phiciiiii are. though more common, quite desirable ad- 

 ditions to the garden, and last but not least, are the old- 

 fashioned spotted tiger lilies, of which one mav now have 

 the improved and double flowering sorts. 



The great beauty and attractiveness of the Sprmg dis- 

 play of "tulips and hvacinths should assure a general Fall 

 planting of these ju'stlv popular bulbous plants, and the 

 hardv narcissi, daffodil's, and joncjuils are in demand for 

 use among the plants of the hardy border or for natural- 

 izing on portions of the grounds. The bulbs of the \ar- 

 cissHs familv should be planted early in the Autumn 

 about two to three inches deep in moist loam or sandv 

 soil. The double vellow daffodil, though old-fashioned, 

 is still quite a favorite and holds its iilace in the modern 



garden. . , • u ,. 



There are a number of inexpensive, yet charming bulb- 

 ous plants that are comparatively little known except to 

 those to whom thev are endeared by sentiment. Scilla 

 Siberica. a hard\- bulb, and the Chionodoxa. approximate- 

 ly called the "Glorv of the Siunv," bear in April lovelv 

 blue flowers which harmonize so beautifully with the 



dainty, nodding snow-drop that is so hardy and early that 

 it braves the snow and bleak winds of March to be the 

 first to herald the coming of Spring, for 



When the modest snow-drop lifts its head 



Upon the grass or in the garden bed. 



Hope dawns — we fancy Spring is near. 



That in the copse the black bird's note we hear. 



The crystal snow is pure and knows no strife. 



The snow-drop breathes of Spring and teeming life. 



Fears not, though frail with wintry storms to cope, 



Speaks to the heart, of cheerful trust and hope. 



— S. Lydia Ezirbank. 



The Winter aconite follows closely upon the heels of 

 the single snow-drop, producing a large, glossy yellow- 

 flower that brings cheer while tulips, hyacinths and other 

 bulbs better known, are still slumbering. The crocus 

 naturalized in the grass or used as an edging plant is a 

 very winsome Spring bloomer. This small bulb should 

 be planted about two inches deep and as a new bulb forms 

 above the old one each year, the crocus requires occa- 

 sional resetting. There are a number of desirable varie- 

 ties, including new hvbrids ranging in color from white 

 to deep purple, but 



The first crocus that thrusts its paint of gold 

 Up through the still snow-drifted garden mould, 



—T. B. Aid rich. 



is a small, yellow flowered sort, called "Cloth of Gold." 

 There is a companion variety, known as ''Cloth of Silver." 

 that is a dainty white, striped with delicate lavender. 



The Star of Bethlehem. Ornithogalum itmbcllatum. of 

 old gardens is rarely seen nowadays but in my garden. 

 Its profusion of starry blossoms and silver striped leaves 

 add an exquisite finish to the border. 



PLANT IMMIGRANTS 



(Continued from page 694) 



waters as to become an actual menace to navigation. 

 One often notices a tendency among the weeds to fore- 

 gather in certain quarters much as people of various na- 

 tionalities do. There are first of all those homelv but 

 friendly weeds that love to grow close about our dwell- 

 ings and farmyards — motherwort, catnip, burdock, dog 

 fennel, jimson weed and smartweed. In old fields and 

 worn-out soils quite another company is found. One 

 may recognize the evening primrose, fleabane, mullein, 

 cinquefoil, horse sorrel, vervain and toad-flax. Along 

 roadsides flourish tansy, chicory, bouncing Bet, golden- 

 rod, asters, and down close to the roadway, spurge, pep- 

 per-grass, shepherd's purse, knot-grass and spreading 

 amaranth. Every crop comes to have its associated 

 weeds and the kitchen garden has examples of nearlv 

 all of them. Any that are missing may lie looked for 

 along the railroads. By mid-Summer the river banks 

 are a tangle of many species but here is one place, if anv, 

 in which the weeds' may be permitted to flourish. The 

 climbing cucumber, the great St. John's-wort, the cardinal 

 flower, "the great blue lobelia, the scarlet bee-balm and 

 even the tick trefoils here make the world gay with color 

 and. crowding no crops of ours, may be looked on with 

 indulgence. 



