ii2 THE BOOK OF BULBS 



sometimes planted out on a sunny border below a wall 

 in April and lifted in September, but we recommend 

 planting it in turfy loam, well-decayed manure and a 

 little sand, in pots, and treating it like the Hippeastrum, 

 but in a rather lower temperature. It grows about two 

 feet high, and has crimson or white flowers about June. 

 Therejs another named S. Cybister, which has red flowers 

 about April. 



TUBEROSES 



The botanical name of the Tuberose Polianthes 

 Tuberosa is so little used by those who grow it that 

 it will be more convenient to speak of this most fragrant 

 flower under its popular title. It is everywhere prized, 

 especially when its pure white flowers are produced in 

 winter, when few of similar character for buttonholes 

 and bouquets are readily procurable. Although a plant 

 which can be flowered in the open border if the bulbs 

 are started and grown on for some time under glass, it 

 requires a considerable amount of heat to flower it 

 properly at other seasons. The bulbs should be potted 

 three together in a five or six inch pot in a soil composed 

 of loam and manure or some leaf-soil. The soil should 

 be slightly moist, so as to obviate the necessity of water- 

 ing before the bulbs begin to make growth. Some 

 plunge in a cold frame until growth begins, but a 

 preferable plan is to plunge in a bottom heat of from 

 sixty to severity degrees if early bloom is required. 

 Plenty of water should be given when growth has fairly 

 begun, and it can hardly be too strongly emphasised that 

 this and a temperature such as that named for the bottom 

 heat should be maintained for winter-blooming. Potting 

 may begin in November, and may be continued at inter- 

 vals for two or three months. Old bulbs are not worth 

 keeping. The double form is the more appreciated, and 



