BULBS AND BULBOUS PLANTS 



THIS was the subject of a very valu- 

 able address by Mr. R. B. Whyte, 

 of Ottawa, before the Hamilton 

 Horticultural Society on Monday evening, 

 March 6th. After the reading of the min- 

 utes, pads and pencils were distributed for 

 the convenience of those wishing to take 

 notes or to ask questions, and points of indi- 

 vidual experience called for. 



In Mr. Whyte we certainly have a model 

 amateur gardener, for he has been growing 

 flowers, and bulbous plants in particular, for 

 twenty-five years past, and all purely out of 

 his love for them. Truly in him and Mr. 

 A. Alexander, of Hamilton, who from a 

 child has loved and cultivated flowers and 

 spends his morning and evening hours even 

 yet in their cultivation, we have amateurs 

 superior to many who claim to be profes- 

 sionals. Mr. Whyte has a large retail busi- 

 ness in Ottawa requiring his close attention 

 from 8.30 in the morning to 6 p. m., and yet 

 he finds two hours a day, from 6 to 8 a. m., 

 to give to his favorites in the garden. 



WHEN TO PLANl. 



After showing from samples, what really 

 constituted a bulb, and how in it was stored 

 up nourishment for most rapid growth in 

 spring, Mr. Whyte divided the bulbous 

 plants as follows : 



(i) Those that must be planted in the 

 fall, in order to have their roots established 

 for their rapid development in early spring, 

 such as snowdrop, crocus, scilla, chionodoxa, 

 tulip, narcissus, hyacinth, fritillaria, etc. 



(2) Those that may be planted in fall or 

 spring, as lily, paeonia, iris, hemerocallis, 

 funkia, for they do not shoot up so rapidly, 

 and give time for root development in 

 spring; only in that case being later in 

 blooming. 



(^) Those that can be phnted in spring 



only, as gladiolus, tigrida, montbretia, cala- 

 dium, oxalis and canna, for there are too 

 tender to be left in the ground through the 

 winter. 



Mr. Whyte favored early planting in the 

 fall for Ottawa ; sometimes between the mid- 

 dle of September and the middle of October 

 he considered much better than later, in r- 

 der to secure good root development before 

 winter. 



WHAT TO PLANT. 



For very early bloom we must never omit 

 the snowdrop, the crocus, the scilla and chio- 

 nodoxa. In planting crocuses Mr. Whyte 

 would plant mixed colors together in masses. 

 A good broad band eight or ten inches wide 

 along the border of the lawn would show up 

 well. But of all the spring flowering bulbs 

 he singled out the narcissus as the most ele- 

 gant and beautiful. It was far superior to 

 the tulip , which is almost the only bulb 

 planted by the gardener in Gore Park at 

 Hamilton, and he could not understand why 

 it was so studiously omitted. 



Of seventy-five varieties of narcissus 

 grown by Mr. Whyte, the finest is the Em- 

 peror. 



The following is a list of the more desir- 

 able kinds for Ontario : 



1. Coffee Cup Narcissi: — Emperor, Gol- 

 den Spur, Yellow Horsfieldi, Bicolor 

 grandis, Princeps. 



2. Tea Cup Narcissi : — Sir Watkin, Barri 

 conspicuous. Cynosure. 



3. Tea Saucer Narcissi — Poeticus, P. or- 

 natus, Biflorus. 



BEST TULIPS. 



Being asked to give a list of the best varie- 

 ties of tulips for the amateur's garlen, Mr. 

 Whyte gave the following: 



Early Single Tulips: — (White) Joost van 

 Vondell; (rose and White), College Maid; 



