DUTCH BULBS. 



JDS'/ 



Dutch Bulbs! Magic words, that picture 

 glorious visions before the mind's eye, all over 

 the world. They sound like music to anyone 

 knowing Dutch bulbs, and no wonder. Is there 

 any flower that helps so intensely to chase away 

 the gloom and dreary dusk in the darkest months 

 of the year, from our dwellings, from our very 

 souls! How quite different our room looks in 

 December, when winter's sadness gets wiped 

 away by putting a pot of the scarlet tulip ,,Duc 

 van Tholl" in the window sill. It is just as if 

 these bright-red children of nature bring into ' 

 your home light and beneficial warmth, fore- 

 boding hopes and expectations. 



And when the dark month of January is there; 

 when wind and snow and rain and sleet make 

 life outdoors a misery, how delightful is it to see 

 on the little table in your hall, or here and there 

 in your drawing room pots of hyacinths, with 

 their delicate colours, their beautiful shapes, i 

 and their delicious scent. 



Nature seems dead during the winter months; 

 the leafless trees and shrubs, the beds without 

 flowers, the lack of colours in a place we knew 

 a few months ago as a joy, as a spot full of 

 brightness, makes our garden into a fhing we 

 don't think about anymore, till real spring 

 comes, and trees and shrubs show their first 



D 



tender green leaves. But for those who know 

 better, the garden will remain, even in a time 

 , when nature is generally ,,at its worst", that is 

 in January, February and March, a treasury, a 

 place full of promises and realisations. Those 

 who knew better, planted in autumn: Snowdrops; 

 Winter Aconite, Glory of the snow (Chiono- 

 doxa); Squill (Scilla), of different kinds and 

 Crocusses. And now when the sun is out in the 

 last days of January, or the first days of 

 February, we may venture a walk in our garden, 

 looking for the bright yellow flowers of the 

 Winter Aconite. And a little later, even when the 

 snow is on the ground, the lovely Snowdrops 

 and the blue Squill of Early Spring, with its 

 bright blue flowers. We have not to wait till we 

 see the first leaves to know that Nature is still 

 wide awake; and all those little gems tell us of 

 the coming Spring. They are all promises of a 

 near future, when Tulips, Hyacinths, Narcissi 

 and Irisses will take their place and cover the 

 soil again with a blaze of colour. 



To get proper results however with bulbs, in 

 the garden, in the greenhouse, or indoors, it is 

 necessary to know exactly how to treat them, 

 and we therefore will give in this booklet some 

 hints which will, if followed accuralety, lead to 

 success. J. F. CH. Dix. 



M3O5638 



