CHAPTER VII. BULBS 



I. Hardy Bulbs for Fall Planting 



By Patrick O'Mara 



HE time to prepare for the spirng feast of flowers is in the 

 fall. Too often people forget all about it until they see 

 the tulips in the parks or in their neighbours' 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 spring-flowering bulbs may be planted. 

 Some of the species are late in ripening — lily-of-the-valley, for instance 

 ■ — and so the planting stock is not available until November. In our 

 northern climate frost and snow may have made their appearance before 

 these are procurable, so the expedient of covering the ground where they are 

 to be planted must be adopted. 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. 



The ideal soil for most bulbs is a friable, sandy loam, well enriched 

 with barnyard manure in which is a goodly proportion of cow manure. This, 

 bear in mind, must be thoroughly rotted and mixed to obtain best results. 

 It is a common practice for amateurs to get manure fresh from the horse 

 stables and put it in the soil. The fermentation is almost sure to kill the 

 roots. In case properly prepared barnyard manure is not available, then a 

 concentrated fertiliser may be used. This can be obtained of any dealer. 

 The brand does not make much difference. Any complete fertiliser will do. 

 Of vital importance it is to thoroughly dig the soil and pulverise it; also to 

 see that water does not lodge on the beds where bulbs are planted. Let 

 them be raised above the surface of the garden and sufficiently convexed to 

 shed the rain that falls. It will repay, also, to cover the beds with two or 



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