For September, 1923 



223 



Lifting and Wintering Tender Bulbs and Tubers 



FLORUM AMATOR 



SL'AIAfER has jjassed and Autumn is here. Before 

 many weeks have gone frost will begin to crust the 

 surface soil in our gardens in the night, and force 

 us to dig and store our tender flowering bulbs, tubers 

 and roots, if we desire to save them for replanting 

 next Spring. This is a work which permits no post- 

 ponement, for if frost once penetrates the soil deeply 

 enough to freeze hard our Summer flowering bulbs 

 and tubers, our stock of these will be lost. 



The three kinds of bulbs, tubers and roots most 

 planted by flower lovers are the Gladiolus, Dahlia 

 and Canna. The first and hardiest of these is not a 

 true bulb, but corm ; the second and more tender is 

 a tuber; and the third equally, at least, and perhaps 

 more tender than the second, is a rhizome or root- 

 stock. Let us consider the .\utumn digging and Winter 

 storage of these in reverse order. 



As soon as the first light frosts of Autumn have 

 nipped the leaves of our Cannas, we should allow the 

 tops to dry for a few days, unless there is immediate 

 danger of a freeze, which will penetrate to the full 

 depth of the Canna roots, and then dig the roots up 

 with a spading fork and let them dry with some earth 

 on them for a day in the open air. They should not 

 be exposed outdoors for even a single night, after 

 they are dug, to the danger of even a light frost. Can- 

 nas should never be left in the ground until heavy 

 frosts penetrate the soil deep enough to freeze the 

 roots, for frost-bitten Canna roots will not winter 

 over satisfactorily no matter how well they are cared 

 for. After a day's drying in the open air. remove the 

 tops close down to the roots with a sharp knife, and 

 then place the roots on shelves in a cellar in which 

 Irish potatoes will keep well. This is a rule given 

 by the "authorities" generally, as regards the place 

 for wintering Canna roots, but we are inclined to think 

 that Canna roots winter best in a room or cellar where 

 the temperature is considerably higher, and the at- 

 mosphere drier than is best for keeping Irish potatoes. 

 Perhaps we may safely keep the heavier roots in 

 either degree of temperature and humidity but the 

 weaker roots in the lower and greater humidity where 

 they will not dry up. It is very important that Canna 

 roots in storage should not get too warm or too moist 

 before cold weather sets in. In case the roots, when 

 dug and dried do not retain much earth, a covering 

 of light soil placed over them will help to keep them. 

 If our Canna plants are fully matured at digging 

 time, and the roots well cured, generally they are 

 wintered over without much loss, but roots of small 

 immature feeble plants are difficult to keep. The 

 earlier Canna roots are started into growth in Spring 

 the less the loss of roots. Commercial growers of 

 bedding plants put their Canna roots into pots or flats 

 and start them into growth under glass in mid-Feb- 

 ruary or early March. 



Dahlia tubers should not he left in the ground until 

 heavy frosts penetrate the soil deep enough to frost 

 the tubers. Frosted Dahlia tubers will not winter 

 over even under the best conditions. As soon as 

 frost has killed the foliage, cut off with a fine-toothed 

 hand-saw squarely, root obliquely, the stalks at the 

 surface of the ground. The advantage of a s;n" over 

 a pruning knife is that in Spring when we are dividing 

 our Dahlia clumps, we are not as liable to wound our 



hands with the square end of the stalk as left by the 

 saw as we are by the sharp, slanting, dry end left by 

 the pruning knife. Dig the tubers very carefully with 

 a spading fork so as not to break them from the stem, 

 for tubers separated from the stem are worthless. 

 Extra care in digging must be taken with such var- 

 ieties as have tubers with long, weak necks. We 

 should avoid digging when the ground is wet. Re- 

 move after digging as much soil as possible by rapping 

 on the end of the stalks with a mallet or light hammer, 

 the clump of tubers being held up a little at the same 

 time from the ground. After this allow the tubers 

 to dry. but only for a few hours. Next pack the 

 clumps of tubers, the stalk end down, so that any 

 juice or water in the stalks may run out, in barrels 

 or boxes very thickly lined with newspapers and then 

 cover heavily with new^spapers, and immediately put 

 the head into the barrel or cover on box and nail up 

 tightly so that mice cannot possibly get in. Place 

 in a cellar or room free from frost and where the 

 temperature is not over forty-five to fifty degrees. 

 Some careful Dahlia growers, after labeling each 

 clump, which should be done in any case, wrap each 

 separately in newspaper before placing in box or 

 barrel. Where the air in the place where the Dahlias 

 must be kept is very dry, thej' place a thick covering 

 of leaves or moss over the top of the barrel or box 

 of clumps before nailing up. 



If Gladiolus corms were set deep as they should be 

 at planting time, they can safely be left in the ground 

 later than Dahlia tubers or Canna roots, but, of course, 

 they must not be left so late that the frost penetrates 

 the soil deep enough to freeze them. We have, how- 

 ever, known Gladiolus occasionallj' under favorable 

 conditions to winter over in the garden, but have 

 never seen a Dahlia or Canna survive the Winter in 

 the garden. 



In digging Gladiolus we raise the corms by pushing 

 a spading fork under them, lift them out by their tops 

 and lay them on the ground to dry. They may be 

 ripened fully in the open garden if the weather is 

 favorable. After they are dry and ripened, we cut 

 oiif the tops close to the corms. and pull ofif from the 

 bottom of the new corms the old corms and roots. 

 If the weather is unfavorable for drying and cleaning 

 in the open, the corms immediately on digging may 

 be brought under cover and dried, and topped and 

 cleaned there. The corms should never be left out 

 in the garden and exposed to a frost after the}-- are 

 dug. .All kinds of bulbs, tubers and roots will endure 

 more frost when in the ground than when out. After 

 the corms are cleaned, we place them in rather thin 

 layers in crates or in peach baskets fairly full and 

 store them in a dry place where the temperature is 

 from forty to fifty or. even a few degrees higher if 

 necessary. Our experience has been that Gladiolus 

 corms placed in a rather dry atmosphere and fairly 

 high temperature keep in better condition and respond 

 more quickly when planted the following season than 

 corms kept in a rather low temperature and somewhat 

 humid atmosphere. 



Montbretias, W^atsonias, Zephyranthes Candida and 

 rosea, Sprekelia formosissima. and Bessera should be 

 lifted at the same time and wintered in the same way 



