PLANTING BULBS IN THE FALL. 



131 



Tulips do not succeed as well for pot 

 plants as hyacinths and narcissi, but can be 

 used very effectively for window or veran- 

 dah boxes for use in early spring. To se- 

 cure the best results the boxes should be 

 filled with fairly good soil, and the bulbs 

 planted two or three inches apart and about 

 an inch under the surface of the soil, as re- 

 commended for pot culture. The soil should 

 then be well watered and the box placed in 

 a cool cellar and covered up with coal ashes, 

 sand or light soil until spring, when the 

 boxes can be brought iip and placed in posi- 

 tion as soon as the weather will permit. 

 Early in April is about the time when It 

 would be safe to bring the boxes out of their 

 winter quarters. Some of the more tender 

 bulbs, such as sparaxis and ixias, as well as 

 hyacinths, tulips, narcissi, chionodoxas, 

 scillas and other bulbs can also be used very 

 effectively in these portable miniature bulb 

 gardens. Lawn vases and rustic flower 

 stands make a very effective and bright ap- 

 pearance on small lawns in early spring 



when planted thickly with early flowering 

 bulbs and treated as recommended for pots 

 and window boxes. Both the boxes and 

 vases would succeed quite as well, if thor- 

 oughly covered up ont of doors, if a cellar 

 is not available. In fact they would be 

 much better out of doors than placed in a 

 dry hot cellar, especially if protected so that 

 they would not be frozen too severely. A 

 little frost will not harm them. 



In planting bulbs in the open ground the 

 ground should be well dug and loosened up 

 and the bulbs planted so that the tops are 

 about an inch underneath the surface of the 

 soil. Tulips might be planted an inch 

 deeper perhaps to advantage, especially 'n 

 light sandy soils. Crocus, scilla, and the 

 smaller bulbs should not be over an inch be- 

 low the surface of the soil when planted. 

 The soil should be raked smooth and fine 

 before planting the bulbs, and packed fairly 

 fir mby patting it with the back of the spade 

 after the bulbs are planted. Packing thie 

 soil prevents lifting by frost during winter. 



PLANTING BULBS IN THE FALL. 



THE time to prepare for the spring f^east 

 of flowers is in the fall, says Country 

 Life in America. Too often people forget 

 all about it until they see the tulips in the 

 parks or in their neighbors' gardens, and 

 then they hie to the bulb-seller in a quest 

 for bulbs. Generally speaking, from the 

 middle of October until the ground is closed 

 with frost, the bulbs for spring flowering 

 may be planted. Some of the species are 

 late in ripening — lily of the valley, for in- 

 stance — and so the planting stock is not 

 available until November. In our north- 

 ern climate frost and snow may have made 

 their appearance before these are procura- 



ble, so the expedient of covering the ground 

 where they are to be planted must be adopt- 

 ed. Coarse bagging spread over the 

 ground and a covering of three or four 

 inches of leaves, hay, or litter of any kind 

 will answer. The best bulb garden the 

 writer ever had — a small one, 'tis true 

 — was planted on New Year's day, the soil 

 having been kept frost-free by the method 

 described. However, unquestionably, the 

 earlier the better. The first customers get 

 the best stock, and the amateur will do well 

 to order his hardy bulbs in September for 

 October planting. 



