48 THE SPRING GARDEN [CH. 



There is another thing in their favour. When once 

 we have judiciously planted our bulbs we may let them 

 alone for some time. With, perhaps, the exception 

 of Tulips, they may be left to themselves for years. 

 When one thinks of all the tending and shifting so 

 many favourite flowers require in a twelvemonth, we can 

 see at once what an advantage the bulbs have over great 

 numbers of their neighbours. In another chapter I shall 

 explain a method for the planting out of bulbs among 

 summer surface-growing annuals in patches of rockwork, 

 so that when in the early winter the ground has been 

 cleared of debris and made trim with top-dressing, there 

 remains nothing more to be done but to watch for the 

 heralds of spring as one by one they rise from their 

 summer and autumn sleep, and then as the weeks go 

 by each brings to us a new enjoyment, a new accession 

 of glory and beauty in our unpretending garden, which 

 may compare with some of Nature's fields of flowers in 

 more sunny lands. 



But while the more rare and costly bulbs belong of 

 right to the garden proper, I like to think of them as 

 growing more and more at home amongst us, and as 

 time goes on becoming naturalised. 



The truth is, where bulbs, such as Daffodils and 

 Tulips, thrive, they multiply exceedingly, and often the 

 crux is how best to dispose of them. The solution is 

 easy enough where there is a lawn, or a grassy bank, 

 or any spare corners, or space under a spreading lime 

 or elm. These are spots intended by Nature for groups 



