102 ^ THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



'At Straftan the lawn lies low down near the river Liffey, and it is 

 sometimes submerged for a day or two after the snow melts in early 

 spring or after heavy rains. From May until September, however, 

 the bulbs are dry among the tree roots with the dense canopy of Lime 

 leafage overhead, as are also the roots of the sky-blue Apennine 

 Anemone that bear them company. We are beginning to perceive 

 that, as a broad rule, some bulbous plants enjoy growing amongst the 

 roots of other plants, or of trees and shrubs, or in the grass of lawn or 

 meadow. The wild Daffodil and Bluebells do this as well as the 

 Snowdrop, and those who have tried to dig up bulbs of any kind 

 abroad with a knife or even with a botanical trowel, will remember 

 how tightly wedged they frequently are in roots of various kinds, or 

 jammed tightly in both roots and stones. 



I usually plant Narcissi in grass by turning back the sod, making 

 two cuts with the spade at right angles, and then pressing up 



and back the sod, laying it back on a hinge, 

 How to plant, as it were, putting in a few bulbs, mostly round 



the sides of the hole, turning the sod back and 

 treading firmly upon it. The question is largely one of conveni- 

 ence and the ground one has to plant. If one could improve the 

 subsoil it would be better for some soils, no doubt, but if the work 

 is .done in a bold way and there is much other planting going 

 on, it is not easy to get time to plant things in the grass with 

 care. Sometimes in breaking new ground or carrying out changes 

 one gets a chance of throwing in some bulbs before the surface is 

 levelled up. Once in planting Grape Hyacinths in an uneven grassy 

 slope they were placed on the turf in the hollows and then levelled 

 up with earth, and both grass and bulbs soon came through. Some 

 bullocks passed an evening where they had no business to be in a 

 grassy enclosure near the house, and their footmarks suggested a group 

 of the Apennine Windflower, and a few of its roots were put in and 

 the holes filled up. A wily man will see odd ways now and then of 

 getting bulbs or seeds in. When the men are making sod banks for 

 the only true field fence a live one is a very good time to put 

 in Sweet Briers in the bank. In certain soils seeds may be sown 

 betimes seeds of Foxglove, Evening Primrose, and stout biennials. 

 Fragile bulbs will want more care and less depth than the bolder 

 Narcissi. Many ways are good, though far more important than any 

 way of planting is thought as to the wants of the thing we plant, not 

 only as to soil, but association with the things that will grow about 

 it in grass, in hedgerows and rough places, for plants are not all 

 garotters like the great Japanese Knotworts and the big Moon 

 Daisies. 



All planting in the grass should be in natural groups or prettily 



