October, 1916. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



247 



planting of perennials and the smaller 

 shrubs and vines, but the mistake of 

 delaying the work of transplanting 

 till so late in the season that growth, 

 even underground, has practically- 

 ceased, is the cause of a good deal of 

 trouble and disappointment. As early 

 as possible in September is the best 

 time to plant, as growth is still going 

 on with great vigor both above arid 

 below ground. 



While spring planting of roses is 

 certainly most favored, I have found 

 that bushes transplanted in late August 

 or early September do excellently the 

 following year ; but in doing this, as in 

 all else connected with the work of 

 planting, I would reiterate and em- 

 phasize what I have said before : Care- 

 fulness, great carefulness in planting is 

 the road to successful gardening. 



Simple Facts About the Growing of Bulbs 



By Dr. H. M. Speechly, Pilot Mound, Man. 



I 



THERE are two ways of growing 

 bulbs : you may either grow them 

 out in the open garden, or cul- 

 tivate them in your own homes through 

 the winter months. As greenhouses are 

 few and far betw'een, I do not in'opose 

 to consider greenhouse methods. My 

 object now is to be useful to oidinary 

 householders, whether in or out of the 

 city. Only a few bulbs are suitable for 

 the open garden in Manitoba, compared 

 with those grown in Great Britain and 

 Europe. Fortunately, these few are not 

 well adapted for indoor use. Hardy 

 ])urbs do not take kindly to onr dry, 

 dust-laden furnace or stove-heated in- 

 door conditions. Please be quite clear 

 on what we mean by bulbs. I shall not 

 talk about iris roots, which are rhizomes 

 as a rule, sometimes tubers ; nor of 

 dahlias, which aretubers; nor of gladi- 

 olus, which is a corni. A bulb is an in- 

 fant plant wrapped around with swad- 

 dling scales of greater or less tliickne.ss, 

 such as an onion, a hyacinth, a narcis- 

 sfus, or a lily. 



Planting Conditions. 

 A little judicious mixing of e;"od sand 

 with the heavy loams makes an admir- 

 able bulb bed. Bulbs dislike \\vr things 

 in particular, a water-loggod -oil awl 

 contact with manure. A Aiil-worked 

 bed has its manure finel.\ divided and 

 properly mixed long before the bulbs 

 are planted, so tliat vhc latter danger 

 is avoided. Now, we want to know 

 when to plant bulbs in the open garden. 

 All hardv true bulbs should be planted 

 in the fall, if possible between Septem- 

 ber 15 and October 15— the earlier the 

 better. Unfortunately, dealers gel their 

 supplies from Europe so late that we do 

 not get our bulbs till October. This is a 

 pity, in view of the simple fact that the 

 longer a bulb stays out of the soil in the 

 fall, the less satisfactory is the flower. 



The Different Bulbs. 



Taking the individual bulbs in the 

 order of their blooming in the open gar- 

 den, first comes the hardy little squill, 

 showing its cheerful bine bells near 

 May 1st. Plant its purple bulb about 



• Extract from an addre.ss delivered before 

 tbo women's section of the Manitoba Horticul- 

 tural and Forestry Association. 



four inches deep, either in a prepared 

 bed or in j^our lawn beneath the sod. 

 The titlip is onr best hardy spring bulb, 

 because it supplies brilliant beauty at a 

 mnch-needed time of the year. 1 share 

 at ilast some of the poet's enthusiasm, 

 who declares : 



"Not one of Flora's brilliant race 



A form more perfect can display ; 

 Art could not feign more simple 

 grace, 



Nor Nature take a line away." 

 I like to treat my tulips like perennials, 

 and therefore put them down for about 

 three yca^rs without disturbance. Some 

 of my tulips have bloomed well in the 

 same spot for seven or eight years. A 

 well-selected planting of tulips will 

 serve you well so long as you are not too 

 exacting, because, of course, the earliest 

 Due Van ThoUs tend to offset their 

 bulbs very rapidly, and so go off flower- 

 ing after the second season. Either your 

 friends or any good catalogue will tell 

 you how to select the early, middling 

 early, and L'lte bulbs in such a way that, 

 except in very dry seasons, you can 

 have them blooming for five or six 

 weeks through the latter half of May 

 and the mouth of June. 



Tulips are planted as early in Oc- 

 '. liber as possible in two ways, either 

 formally in complete beds suitable 



really only for parks and public places, 

 or informally in clumps in front of or 

 amongst the front ranks of a perennial 

 horder. The latter is the more attrac- 

 tive, especially for private gardens, be- 

 cause aijiid the rising green foliage of 

 other plants the tulip loses whatever 

 may be glaring in its brilliant colors. 

 When you are ready for planting, rake 

 off the soil to the depth of six inches. 

 If you are particular, put an inch of 

 sand on this bottom, but it is not neces- 

 sary. Press your bulbs firmly on to this 

 bottom, pointed end upwards, about 

 four inches apart; then cast back the 

 top soil carefully over the bulbs. They 

 thus are ready to lie buried and frozen 

 tight all the winter through. Of course 

 they begin to root before the frost 

 reaches them. To protect them from 

 the iaifluence of hot April suns and 

 severe night frosts, you can scatter 

 over the soil four inches of horse man- 

 ure, which, according to the season, 

 may be removed at the latter end of 

 April or in the first week of May. 



The Gk)i-y of the Snow shows its 

 beautiful blue and white petals quite 

 late in May, and should be planted in 

 the fall like the Mue squill, either in a 

 bed or in sod, each bulb being four 

 inches below the surface and about two 

 inches apart. Squills and Glory of the 

 Snow should be scattered thickly in the 

 forefront of a bed, being only four or 

 five inches in height. Lilies should be 

 planted further back, because of their 

 superior height. 



Every good gardener thinks a year 

 or so ahead, and amongst other things 

 has ready for fall use a heap of clean 

 sand, a heap of well-rotted sods, and a 

 heap of charcoal. The charcoal can 

 easily be got from the burning of rub- 

 bish heaps. Thus, when fall planting 

 in the garden or potting bulbs in the 

 I'm 11, very thing is ready f»r these pur- 

 poses. 



Thl.-i lllll-ll M;,>n .:!; 



no ob.stinu-tion to 



.\v.- tlio iistilts 1)1 Juiliriims iilantinK at a boulevard corner, there being 

 sight, and therefore little danger of collision. (Photo by H. J. Moore.) 



