ON DAFFODILS AND NARCISSI 145 



things, which should be reserved for comparatively 

 dwarf plants. Daffodils and May-blooming Tulips 

 could be made to play an important part among these. 

 They should not be planted in continuous lines, because 

 after they had gone out of bloom and the foliage had 

 begun to turn yellow there would be an unsightly band. 

 They should be put in clumps, interspersed with Pyre- 

 thrums, Leopards' banes (Doronicums), Columbines, and 

 other things of about the same height that would be in 

 bloom soon after them and carry on the display. 



There is, of course, one perfectly simple way of 

 dealing with clumps of spring bulbs directly they have 

 gone out of flower, and that is to cut them off level with 

 the ground- leaves, flower -stems, and all. Experts 

 do not like this plan, arguing that as the leaves serve as 

 lungs fbr. the plants, the bulbs must suffer if the foliage 

 is removed before it decays naturally. A safer plan is 

 to draw the foliage together and tie it in a neat bunch, 

 then to plant something else near, such as Annual Asters 

 or Snapdragons. A little trouble of this kind is well 

 repaid, as the border always looks fresh and neat. 



Daffodils in Herbaceous Borders. If unskilled labour 

 is employed in the garden, it is wise to keep a sharp eye 

 on a man digging an herbaceous border containing 

 bulbs. He should be taught to observe the position of 

 labels or marking-stakes, and neither to drive a sharp 

 spade into the middle of the clumps nor to put a huge 

 boot on to an upspringing treasure. While splitting 

 bulbs into fragments cannot by any stretch of imagina- 

 tion be made beneficial to them, it does no harm to take 

 the clumps up bodily in early autumn ; in fact, it is rather 

 a good thing, as the soil can be freshened up, and the 

 small bulbs separated from the flowering ones. Some 

 of the Daffodils make many new bulbs every year, 



