LIFTING AND STORING BULBS 



tissues, and consequently the whole plant becomes happier and 

 healthier because cleaner and freed from its natural enemies. As a 

 rule, there is not much difficulty in removing scaly pests, etc., from 

 the leaves or stems of plants; but sometimes in very neglected 

 cases it may be necessary to remove them first of all with a piece of 

 pointed bamboo stick, afterwards sponging and washing in the 

 usual way. 



LIFTING AND STORING BULBS 



Although these points are dealt with in special cases in this work, 

 it may be as well to touch upon the subject in a general way. Many 

 if not most bulbous plants are deciduous ; that is, the leaves die away 

 each year, and the bulbs, corms, tubers, or rhizomes, as the case may 

 be, remain dormant or quiescent for a certain period. Other bulbous 

 plants, however, present an evergreen appearance many of the 

 Crinums and Pancratiums, for example and are consequently in a 

 state of growth throughout the year, passing from weak to vigorous 

 stages according to their nature and the season. 



So far as deciduous bulbous plants are concerned, if grown in the 

 open air, it matters little in many cases whether the bulbs or tubers 

 are lifted annually, or whether they are left in the ground undis- 

 turbed for a number of years. Some, such as Daffodils, Crocus, 

 Snowdrops, Bluebells, Scillas, Chionodoxas, Muscaris, some Liliums 

 (e.g. L. candidum), Fritillarias, to mention only a few, are decidedly 

 best left in the soil for some years when they are doing well, and if 

 they have been planted in borders or shrubberies, or in grassland. 

 In this way they increase and multiply naturally, and give more 

 gorgeous displays of colour year after year, especially if they have 

 been fed by placing a layer of some well-decayed manure over them 

 after the leaves have died down. 



Other bulbous plants like Hyacinths, Tulips, Gladiolus, and 

 Tigridia, and some of the rarer and more tender kinds, are perhaps 

 best lifted every year after the flowers are past their best. Unless it 

 is desired to save seeds, this is usually the best time to lift bulbous 

 plants. The foliage should show signs of yellowing, and this 

 indicates that the work of assimilating food is nearly at an end for 

 that particular season. When any of these bulbous plants are grown 

 in formal beds on the lawn, it is almost essential to get them up and 

 stored out of the way to make room for other plants to take their 



17 B 



