BULBS IN THE ROCK GARDEN 63 



ever seen was on a hedgebank. The variety Heavenly 

 Blue is the most brilliant of all. M. botryoides, blue, and 

 its white variety, alba, and M. conicum, blue, are others 

 commonly grown. The bulbs are planted in September 

 or October. 



Scilla (Squill). The Squills are dainty flowers of 

 early spring, and are well worth planting freely in the 

 rock garden, for the decaying leaves are very little in 

 the way. Scilla sibirica and S. bifolia, both blue-flowered, 

 are usually grown. S. festalis is the common Bluebell, 

 and this, of course, is very lovely in May, but it needs 

 to be abundantly grouped to give a good effect. The 

 Spanish Squill (Scilla hispanica) is a charming plant ; 

 it forms a tuft of narrow leaves, from which the flower 

 spikes, twelve or fifteen inches high, rise in May, bearing 

 pale blue blossoms ; there is a pink variety called rosea. 



Tulip. One would not care to group the bedding 

 Tulips freely in the rock garden, though here and there 

 a clump adds welcome gaiety. But there are several 

 choice Tulip species that seem more at home among the 

 alpine flowers ; such, for example, as T. sylvestris, yellow, 

 fragrant ; T. montana, bright red ; T. persica, yellow ; and 

 T. clusiana, white, with crimson eye. The bulbs should 

 be planted in October or early November. 



The commonest mistake in bulb cultivation made by 

 unskilled amateur gardeners is that of not planting 

 them deeply enough. A fairly reliable method to follow 

 is to have the top of the bulb at twice its depth below 

 the surface. Thus, if the bulb is two inches deep, its 



